By Chris Brown

70 per cent benchmark reached

Alberta moving to Stage 3 of reopening on Canada Day

Jun 18, 2021 | 1:07 PM

Albertans have another reason to celebrate Canada Day this year.

The province will move to Stage 3 of the Open for Summer plan on July 1.

“Yesterday Alberta officially surpassed the 70 per cent vaccination threshold to trigger Stage 3 of Alberta’s open for summer plan, with 70.2 per cent of eligible Albertans receiving their first vaccine dose,” Premier Jason Kenney announced today. “That means that on July the first, on Canada Day, Alberta’s public health measures will be lifted and our lives will get back to normal.”

Kenney said he never doubted that Albertans the benchmark would reach in time for the July 1 reopening.

“I never doubted Albertans. I never doubted that would reach this milestone together, that we’d pull together as a province, as a people and get ‘er done in the true Alberta spirit,” he said.

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Kenney thanked the health-care workers who worked to administer vaccinations and those who designed the rollout plan, as well as the 2.7 million Albertans who have received the vaccine.

The premier said with the move to Stage 3 virtually all public health restrictions will be history on Canada Day. He said there would be no more limits on funerals, no more bans on indoor social gatherings, no more advisories against non-essential travel and more.

Kenney said people will have to follow common-sense measures and stay home if sick, get tested if they have symptoms and isolating if they receive a positive test.

He said the province is moving from mandatory government restrictions to vaccines being the best way of protecting lives from COVID-19

“Thanks to vaccines and the millions of people who have been protected by them, we finally have the upper hand on this virus and can safely open up this province,” he said.

Kenney said there 2,471 active cases right now, the lowest since October, down 61 per cent since Stage 1 on reopening was started on June 1. The number of people in hospital is down 45 per cent in the same period and ICU admissions are down 53 per cent.

A full update of numbers will be released later on Friday.

Kenney continued to encourage Alberta to get vaccinated and pushed the Open for Summer Lottery. After reaching the 70 per cent mark on June 17, the deadline to enter for the first draw is 11:59 p.m. on June 24. he said more prizes will be announced soon.

Second doses expanded

Health Minister Tyler Shandro announced that effective immediately, anyone who received their first mRNA (Pfizer or Moderna) dose in May or earlier can book their second dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

Appointments can be booked through the Alberta Health Services online booking tool, by calling Health Link at 811 or through participating physicians’ offices or pharmacies. To find the closest pharmacy with the earliest available booking date, check the list at Alberta Blue Cross.

Albertans who received a first dose of AstraZeneca should continue to wait a minimum of eight weeks before booking their second dose to ensure best effectiveness. Appointments can be booked through Alberta Health Services by calling 811.