Second vaccine dose bookings open to some now; 80 active COVID-19 cases in Medicine Hat

Kenney said the reason for the declines is the efficacy of vaccines and the public health measures implemented in early May.

“This the start of opening Alberta for summer and getting our lives back to normal,” he said. “This is where we start to live the promise that these vaccines have brought.”

Part of the Open For Summer plan calls for Alberta to move to Stage 2 when 60 per cent of eligible Albertans have received at least one dose, a mark reached last week. As of today, 63.4 per cent of eligible Albertans have received at least one dose.

The clock on the two-week waiting period started on May 28, said Kenney.

“That means Alberta will enter Stage 2 of the reopening on June 10th, we’ve confirmed that, as long as hospitalizations stay below 500 and keep trending downward as they are very clearly,” he said.

There are 80 active cases of COVID-19 in Medicine Hat on Tuesday.

Medicine Hat now has had 1,228 total cases – the 80 active, 1,126 recovered and there have been 22 deaths.

There are four new cases in the city today and three new recoveries.

54.6 per cent of Hatters have received at least one dose of vaccine.

Across Alberta, there are 6,771 active cases, down 875 from Monday, and 218,719 recovered cases, up 1,083.

Alberta’s total cases from the start of the pandemic is 227,718.

There are 209 total new cases in the province today.

There are now 438 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, 127 of which are in ICU, and 2,228 deaths.

The province completed 4,100 tests in the past 24 hours.

The positivity rate is about 5.1 per cent.

Alberta has administered 2,811,168 doses of vaccine at the latest update.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said variant screening has also been expanded after being limited last month as testers were being overwhelmed during the third wave.

“Starting today, all positive test results in Alberta will undergo screening tests for variants of concerns,” she said.

She cautioned that because all cases will be screened for variants of concern the case counts for variants may rise even as overall cases fall.

“But it is a good thing to expand this screening. Every case we identify will help us track and limit further spread as we move toward further reopening,” she said.

Albertans who received a first dose of AstraZeneca can choose AstraZeneca or an mRNA for their second dose. Hinshaw said whichever you choose for a second dose, if your first dose was AstraZeneca, at least eight weeks before getting a second to improve the effectiveness.

Those who first received an mRNA vaccine will for the most part receive the same vaccine as their second dose.

There are 430 active cases and 11,774 recovered in the South Zone. The death total in the zone is at 130.

An AHS spokesperson told CHAT News on Monday AHS South Zone currently has 25 COVID-19 positive individuals in hospital. There are 17 at Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge, with four of those in the ICU. Medicine Hat Regional Hospital has six inpatients, with three of those in the ICU. The Brooks Health Centre and Cardston Health Centre each have one inpatient.

The province-wide reproductive value from last week is 0.72. It is 0.71 in Calgary Zone, 0.73 in Edmonton Zone and 0.72 in the rest of Alberta. These figures are updated each Monday.

Crescent Heights High School, Monsignor McCoy High School, Crestwood School and Dr. Ken Sauer School remain on AHS Outbreak status.

St. Francis Xavier School is on Alert status.

Regionally, Brooks Composite High School and Eastbrook Elementary School in Brooks and Duchess School are on Outbreak status. Eagle Butte High School is on Alert status.

Schools remain on Outbreak and Alert status until there is no new confirmed case for 28 days.

Cypress County has totaled 294 cases – 29 active cases and the rest recovered. The vaccination rate for all ages is 45.1 per cent.

The County of Forty Mile has 156 total cases. There is one active cases, 152 recovered and there have been three deaths. The vaccination rate for all ages is 26.2 per cent.

The MD of Taber has 570 total cases — 12 active cases, 552 recovered and there have been six deaths. The vaccination rate for all ages is 32.6 per cent.

Special Areas No. 2 has 99 total cases – eight active cases, 90 recovered and there has been one death.

Brooks has 1,489 total cases — 32 active cases and 1,442 are recovered. Brooks has recorded 15 deaths.

The County of Newell has a total of 232 cases — 21 active cases, 209 recovered and there have been two deaths. The vaccination rate for all ages is 42.1 per cent, including Brooks.

The County of Warner has 463 total cases. There are 30 active cases, 430 are recovered cases and there have been three deaths in the county. The vaccination rate for all ages is 40.3 per cent.

The City of Lethbridge has a total of 4,805 cases. There are 118 active cases, 4,649 recovered and there have been 38 deaths. Lethbridge County has 1,240 cases, 39 active cases, 1,189 recovered and there have been 12 deaths.

Not all the areas on the vaccination data map match the case count map.

The figures on alberta.ca are “up-to-date as of end of day May 31, 2021.”

Read the full June 1 update from the province here.

Saskatchewan has a total of 46,834 cases, 1,272 considered active. There are 45,022 recovered cases and there have been 540 COVID-19 deaths in the province.

Saskatchewan has delivered 730,952 doses of vaccine.

by Chris Brown

Second vaccine dose bookings open to some now; 80 active COVID-19 cases in Medicine Hat

Our Community