Vaccination appointments for kids aged five to 11 start Friday

Appointments can also be made by calling 811.

“We are ready quickly to safely administer vaccines to those between five and 11 years old. This is welcome news to many parents who will log in I suspect first thing tomorrow morning to book their kids’ vaccines.”

Everyone aged five to 11 will be eligible at once tomorrow, Health Minister Jason Copping said.

He said the province is working to get the vaccines, which arrived today, distributed across Alberta. They will go to 120 Alberta health Services clinics in the province, four pharmacies where AHS clinics aren’t available and on First Nations reserves.

“There will be enough doses for every parent who wants one for their child,” Copping said.

On the death of the child under, Hinshaw said stressed that Alberta does not report deaths from COVID-19 in youth until a full report is completed.

“While I will note that this child had complex pre-existing medical conditions that played a significant role, this does not diminish the tragic loss of one so young,” she said.

Kenney urged any parent unsure about getting their kids vaccinated to speak with a trusted medical professional. He said the government wants parents to take the time their need to assess their situation, review the data and make the best choice for their kids and their family.

The premier said children aged five to 11 will not be subject to the Restrictions Exemption Program.

“Ultimately, we felt that it would be unfair to younger children to exclude them, and to further stigmatize them, especially given their low-risk for severe outcomes from COVID-19,” he said.

Health Canada approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for the 5 to 11 age group on Friday.

Almost 94 per cent of Alberta’s total population is now eligible for the vaccine, said Kenney.

There are 75 active cases of COVID-19 in Medicine Hat on Tuesday.

Medicine Hat has had 4,535 total cases – the 75 active, 4,382 recovered and there have been 78 deaths.

There are eight new cases in the city in the past 24 hours and three new recoveries.

An AHS spokesperson told CHAT News on Monday that there are currently 53 COVID-19 positive inpatients in the South Zone with 12 of those in the ICU. There are 13 inpatients at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital with 2 in the ICU.

Chinook Regional Hospital has 32 with 10 in the ICU. Cardston Health Centre has three inpatients; Pincher Creek Health Centre, Raymond Health Centre, and Taber Health Centre have one each.

Among Hatters 12 and over, 85.1 per cent have received at least one dose of vaccine and 80.4 per cent are fully vaccinated.

73.9 per cent of all Hatters have received at least one dose of vaccine at the latest update and 69.8 per cent of Hatters are fully vaccinated.

There are 5,001 active cases in the province, down 310 from Monday, and 324,776 recovered cases in the province, up 453.

Alberta’s total cases from the start of the pandemic is 333,004.

There are 253 new cases in the province in the past 24 hours.

There are now 475 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, 94 of which are in ICU, and 3,227 deaths.

The province completed 5,311 tests in the past 24 hours.

The positivity rate is about 4.8 per cent.

Alberta has administered 6,807,172 doses of vaccine at the latest update.

Copping said decisions on potentially lifting restrictions before the holidays will be forthcoming.

He also said that Alberta’s QR code vaccine record will be updated Wednesday to meet the recommended Canadian standard for domestic and international travel. It will be available at alberta.ca/CovidRecords and includes middle names and the record is in both official languages.

Albertans who already have a QR code vaccine record do not need to save or reprint the updated version if they do not intend to travel. Albertans can continue to use their already saved vaccine record with a QR code to access local businesses and venues taking part in the Restrictions Exemption Program.

Hinshaw announced a recommendation to extend the interval between first and second doses for mRNA vaccine to at least eight weeks for all those currently eligible. The recommendation is based on emerging evidence that shows higher and longer-lasting effectiveness.

She also said 12- to 29-year-olds are recommended to get the Pfizer vaccine over Moderna. Hinshaw said, “while still low, the risk of myocarditis is higher following Moderna vaccine than following Pfizer vaccine.”

The chief medical officer of health will host a telephone townhall next Tuesday on vaccines and children for anyone who wants to call in. A registration link will be available online.

Among new cases today, 62.1 per cent are unvaccinated, 1.4 per cent are partially vaccinated and 36 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Among current hospitalizations, 70.1 per cent are unvaccinated, 4.4 per cent are partially vaccinated and 25.5 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Province-wide, 88.4 per cent of Albertans 12 years old and up have received at least one dose of vaccine and 83.3 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Among Alberta’s total population, 75.2 per cent have received at least one dose of vaccine and 70.8 per cent are fully vaccinated.

There is one local outbreak listed on AHS website.

There are no local schools on Outbreak status. Two schools in Medicine Hat is on Alert status, as well as one in the surrounding area.

There are 424 active cases and 22,325 recovered in the South Zone. The death total in the zone is at 287.

The province-wide reproductive value for the week of Nov. 1-14 is 0.92. It is 1.00 in Calgary Zone, 0.92 in Edmonton Zone and 0.87 in the rest of Alberta.

It’s updated every two weeks. At the last update from Oct. 25-31 the numbers were 0.87 in the province, 0.91 in Calgary Zone, 0.90 in Edmonton Zone and 0.84 in the rest of Alberta.

Cypress County has totaled 849 cases. There are five active cases, 838 recovered and six deaths. The latest one-dose vaccination rate for all ages is 66 per cent, the two-dose rate is 62.

The County of Forty Mile has 344 total cases. There are two active cases, 337 recovered and there have been five deaths. The latest one-dose vaccination rate for all ages is 41.1 per cent, the two-dose rate is 37.1.

The MD of Taber has 1,288 total cases — 40 active cases, 1,231 recovered and there have been 17 deaths. The latest one-dose vaccination rate for all ages is 47.7 per cent, the two-dose rate is 44.2.

Special Areas No. 2 has 249 total cases – 11 active cases, 235 recovered and there have been three deaths.

Brooks has 2,096 total cases — nine active cases and 2,063 are recovered. Brooks has recorded 24 deaths.

The County of Newell has a total of 504 cases — 11 active cases, 485 recovered and there have been eight deaths. The latest one-dose vaccination rate for all ages is 66.3 per cent, the two-dose rate is 60.5. The Newell numbers include the city of Brooks and part of Special Areas No. 2.

The County of Warner has 787 total cases. There are 18 active cases, 765 are recovered cases and there have been four deaths in the county. The latest one-dose vaccination rate for all ages is 59.4 per cent, the two-dose rate is 54.3.

The City of Lethbridge has a total of 7,128 cases. There are 137 active cases, 6,929 recovered and there have been 62 deaths. Lethbridge County has 1,967 cases, 39 active cases, 1,909 recovered and there have been 19 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 Nov. 22, 2021.”

Saskatchewan has a total of 80,481 cases, 1,014 considered active. There are 78,553 recovered cases and there have been 914 COVID-19 deaths in the province.

by Chris Brown

Vaccination appointments for kids aged five to 11 start Friday

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