Deputy chief medical officer of health Dr. Andre Corriveau.

By Chris Brown

Two new cases in city, 127 in province

Medicine Hat down to 26 active COVID-19 cases

Jun 15, 2021 | 3:45 PM

The province is inching closer to the government’s benchmark of 70 per cent of the eligible Albertans with at least their first dose of vaccine.

Deputy chief medical officer of health Dr. Andre Corriveau more than 69 per cent of Albertans over the age of 12 have received at least one dose of vaccine.

He urged people to get vaccinated during the Tuesday COVID-19 update and stressed the safety of vaccines.

“If you’re still unsure about whether to get vaccinated or are worried about vaccine safety, I encourage you to arm yourself with accurate information. Vaccines are safe, effective and they do save lives,” he said.

Corriveau said to date there have been 559 adverse events among those who have received a dose, roughly 0.015 per cent of all people who’ve been vaccinated.

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He said most were minor events such as pain, headache and fever and sever adverse reactions have been exceedingly rare.

There are 26 active cases of COVID-19 in Medicine Hat on Tuesday.

Medicine Hat now has had 1,256 total cases – the 26 active, 1,208 recovered and there have been 22 deaths.

There are two new cases in the city today and five new recoveries.

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

Across Alberta, there are 2,804 active cases, down 285 from Monday, and 225,627 recovered cases, up 408.

Alberta’s total cases from the start of the pandemic is 230,705.

There are 127 total new cases in the province today. 85 more variants of concern were identified.

There are now 271 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, 68 of which are in ICU, and 2,274 deaths.

The province completed 4,476 tests in the past 24 hours.

The positivity rate is about 2.9 per cent.

Alberta has administered 3,412,751 doses of vaccine at the latest update.

He said the 2,804 active cases is the lowest number since Oct. 15, 2020.

Corriveau said more than 69 per cent of Albertans over the age of 12 have received at least one dose of vaccine, and 22 per cent have received two shots.

“So we’re getting very close to our objective of 70 per cent,” he said. “the Open for Summer lottery that was announced yesterday is one additional way to bring us closer to the goal of collectively returning to a more normal life and I hope it will inspire even more Albertans to get vaccinated over the coming weeks.”

He said the more people who have been immunized, the better protected everyone is.

New data shows two doses are close to 90 per cent effective even against the Delta variant first identified in India.

“The second dose is really critical to consolidate the gains so we’re hoping to maintain the momentum and we’re working really hard to find ways to accelerate access to the second doses to all Albertans,” Corriveau said.

An announcement on moving up eligibility for second doses is to come later this week.

The deputy chief medical officer of health provided the update. Chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw is taking the week off to spend with her family.

There are 105 active cases and 12,217 recovered in the South Zone. The death total in the zone is at 132.

An AHS spokesperson told CHAT News on Monday AHS South Zone currently has 13 COVID-19 positive individuals in hospital. There are eight at Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge, with two of those in the ICU. Medicine Hat Regional Hospital has five inpatients, with one of those in the ICU.

The province-wide reproductive value from last week is 0.76. It is 0.79 in Calgary Zone, 0.65 in Edmonton Zone and 0.80 in the rest of Alberta. These figures are updated each Monday.

St. Francis Xavier School is on AHS Outbreak status. George Davison School is on AHS Alert status.

Regionally, St. Joseph’s Collegiate in Brooks 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 301 cases – seven active cases, 293 recovered and one death. The vaccination rate for all ages is 46.7 per cent.

The County of Forty Mile has 157 total cases. There is one active case, 153 recovered and there have been three deaths. The vaccination rate for all ages is 27.7 per cent.

The MD of Taber has 571 total cases — one active case, 564 recovered and there have been six deaths. The vaccination rate for all ages is 34.1 per cent.

Special Areas No. 2 has 103 total cases – four active cases, 98 recovered and there has been one death.

Brooks has 1,503 total cases — 13 active cases and 1,475 are recovered. Brooks has recorded 15 deaths.

The County of Newell has a total of 240 cases — six active cases, 232 recovered and there have been two deaths. The vaccination rate for all ages is 45.1 per cent, including Brooks.

The County of Warner has 466 total cases. There are six active cases, 457 are recovered cases and there have been three deaths in the county. The latest vaccination rate for all ages is 42.4 per cent.

The City of Lethbridge has a total of 4,829 cases. There are 18 active cases, 4,773 recovered and there have been 38 deaths. Lethbridge County has 1,255 cases, 12 active cases, 1,231 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 June 14, 2021.”

Read the full June 15 update from the province here.

Saskatchewan has a total of 48,043 cases, 722 considered active. There are 46,761 recovered cases and there have been 560 COVID-19 deaths in the province.

Saskatchewan has delivered 910,322 doses of vaccine.