By Chris Brown

21 active cases in Medicine Hat

Health minister says Ottawa failing Albertans on COVID-19 vaccine

Jan 28, 2021 | 5:22 PM

Health Minister Tyler Shandro says he’s frustrated by the delays and lower-than-expected COVID-19 vaccine shipments, saying Alberta is ready and able to push ahead with its immunization program as fast as the vaccines come.

He called the news today that Alberta will received 63,000 fewer does than expected in the first quarter of the year the latest in a series of unfulfilled promises from the federal government.

“Ottawa continues to fail us and to fail all Albertans,” Shandro said.

The military commander overseeing Canada’s vaccine rollout calls lower-than-expected shipments a “bump in the road” and says 20 million doses are expected between April and June.

There are 21 active cases of COVID-19 in Medicine Hat on Thursday.

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The city now has had 525 total cases – the 21 active, 491 recovered and there have been 13 deaths.

There is one new case in the city in Thursday’s update and one new recovery.

Across the province, there are 8,041 active cases, down 162 from Wednesday, and 113,174 recovered cases, up 616.

Alberta’s total number of COVID-19 cases from the start of the pandemic is 122,821.

There are 461 new cases in the province today.

There are now 591 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, 112 of which are in ICU, and 1,606 deaths.

The province completed 12,324 tests in the past 24 hours.

The provincial positivity rate is 3.9 per cent.

As of Jan. 27, 102,524 doses of vaccine have been administered in Alberta.

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Dr. Deena Hinshaw said Alberta Health is concerned about the proposal to amend the Pfizer vaccine label to indicate each vial contains six doses.

She said a sixth dose has been safely extracted from about half the vials so far, numbers that are in line with other provinces.

“However, even with our trained professionals, it is not always possible to get six doses from every vial.”

She said a global shortage of a particular syringe is one factor in the difficulty of getting a sixth dose every time.

Hinshaw also said that there hasn’t been a single case of lab-confirmed influenza this flu season. She said that not a result of not testing or testing fewer samples, and that testing is actually at a record high this year.

“The absence of seasonal influenza cases to date is a testament to our province and to the power of the actions we have been taking to protect each other. The measures in place to stop the spread of COVID-19 have stopped the spread of influenza,” the chief medical officer of health said.

Medicine Hat and the entire province remains in enhanced status, in which risk levels require enhanced public health measures to control the spread and are informed by local context.

Medicine Hat should however be off the provincial “Watch” list.

Regions are placed on the province’s “Watch” list when they have a rate of more than 50 active cases per 100,000 population. Medicine Hat’s 21 active cases among 68,057 people puts it at a rate of 30.8.

Brooks, the MD of Taber, Cypress County and the County of Forty Mile are no longer on the “Watch” list.

The County of Newell (125), Lethbridge (117.2) and Lethbridge County (109) are on the list.

There are 5,783 cases in the South Zone. There are 336 active cases and 5,376 recovered. The death total in the zone is at 71.

An AHS spokesperson told CHAT News on Thursday that AHS South Zone currently has 32 COVID-19 positive individuals in hospital. There are six at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital, with two of those in the ICU. Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge has 22 inpatients, with seven of those in the ICU. The Cardston Health Centre has three inpatients, and the Pincher Creek Health Centre has one.

Seven Persons School is on “Alert” status, with two positive cases. One was confirmed on Jan. 17 and one on Jan. 15. Students and staff have been identified as close contacts and placed into quarantine.

The website Support Our Students is tracking instances of cases in schools across the province.

Cypress County has totaled 145 cases – two active cases and the rest recovered.

The County of Forty Mile has 117 total cases. There is one active case, 114 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The MD of Taber has 328 total cases — five active cases, 317 recovered and there have been six deaths.

Special Areas No. 2 has 41 total cases – three active, 37 recovered and there has been one death.

Brooks has 1,361 total cases — four active and 1,343 are recovered. Brooks has recorded 14 deaths.

The County of Newell has a total of 157 cases — 10 active cases, 145 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The County of Warner has 158 total cases. There are six active cases, 150 are recovered cases and there have been two deaths in the county.

The City of Lethbridge has a total of 1,655 cases. There are 118 active cases, 1,545 recovered and there have been 12 deaths. Lethbridge County has 509 cases, 31 active cases, 471 recovered and there have been seven deaths.

The figures on alberta.ca are “up-to-date as of end of day Jan. 27, 2021.”

Read the full Jan. 28 update from the province here.

Saskatchewan confirmed 244 new cases of COVID-19 in the Thursday update.

Saskatchewan has a total of 23,038 cases, 2,478 considered active. There are 20,275 recovered cases and there have been 288 COVID-19 deaths in the province.

Saskatchewan has delivered 34,672 doses of vaccine.