The BC COVID Modelling Group has released its latest report and warns that Coronavirus cases are rising among children who are not vaccinated due to age.
The group says infections in children have gone up steeply in Island Health, and in the Fraser and Interior Health regions.
The modelling group says this is because children are less vaccinated and have high contact with others.
It says children account for nearly 50 per cent of the unvaccinated in the province.
While children are more likely to be asymptomatic and few with COVID-19 end up in the hospital, the group says the sheer number of unvaccinated children makes them a large risk group.
The modelling experts say vaccinating children ages 5 to 11 is likely to bring benefits if the Pfizer vaccine is approved, both direct benefits to children and indirect benefits to adults.
Children have a unique need for the adults in their lives and have contact with parents, grandparents and other adults.
The report says if all children caught COVID-19, and half did not have symptoms while one per cent of the other half were hospitalized, it would result in three thousand hospitalizations.
Overall, the modelling group says the number of cases in the province stabilised through September due to vaccination, masking, and other public health measures.
Its latest report also says ICU demand remains near peak levels, but the hospital and ICU occupancy has begun to stabilise.
The BC COVID Modelling Group is made up of experts in epidemiology and mathematics.
