More and more people in Saskatchewan are getting protected from COVID-19 by vaccines, and that's showing in the declining rates of hospitalization and daily case numbers. There is still one segment of the population that cannot yet get their initial shot, however. 

No vaccine has yet been approved for children under the age of 12, and those children will be in schools and out in public as the province reopens despite a lack of immunization for them so far. Saskatchewan health officials believe they have a good plan to keep them safe, however. 

"If the vaccination rate is high in parents and families and friends, that is going to protect children under 11," said Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab. "Certainly, in schools, what we have seen is that high cases in the community meant higher cases in schools. The transmission rate is always lower in schools than in the community rather than the other way around."

The hope for schools for the fall is that a high vaccination rate among staff and older children will help keep the virus out of schools where kids age 11 and under are learning. Since younger children have been at less risk from the virus throughout the pandemic, this could be the key to keeping them safe.

"High vaccination rates in operators of daycares, high vaccination rates in caretakers of children age 11 and under, there will already be a strong ring of protection," Dr. Shahab said, "to enable a more normal start to the fall school year."

While nothing is certain yet, vaccines weren't always approved for people under the age of 18 either. Eventually, Pfizer's vaccine were designated safe for those age 12 to 17, and the province believes vaccines could be approved for younger children before the school year begins as well.

"Trials are underway and they seem to be showing positive results in the 11 and under age group, and there's no reason why they shouldn't," Dr. Shahab said. "So as soon as they're approved to offer vaccines to children 11 and under, that program can start."