Loading articles...

Alberta approaches 2M vaccines administered, nearly 200,000 appointments booked Monday

Last Updated May 11, 2021 at 8:26 pm MDT

EDMONTON (660 NEWS) — Alberta’s vaccine rollout is in high gear, and that was evident with vaccine numbers shown off by Premier Jason Kenney on Tuesday.

Monday, vaccine eligibility was expanded to those 12 years and older, and Gen Z and Millenials came out in droves.

In just one day, over 190,000 COVID-19 vaccine appointments were booked through AHS and pharmacies in the province.

WATCH: Premier Jason Kenney joins Dr. Deena Hinshaw to provide the latest COVID-19 update. 

“There are now over 328,000 people already signed up and booked to get their shot over the next week,” Kenney said. “That’s almost 10 per cent of the entire eligible population in one week alone.”

Kenney added that he fully expects the province will reach two million vaccines administered sometime in the next 24 hours.

“To put it in perspective, it took Alberta 119 days to reach our first one million doses administered, and if we stay on target for (Wednesday), we will have taken only 29 days to reach the second million.”

Based on the current vaccine supply, Kenney says he expects to have half of the Albertan population vaccinated by the first week of June, and two-thirds of the population inoculated by the third week of June.

The premier says the results achieved in the approach is very promising.

“By starting our vaccine program with our elderly, who were most at risk, we’ve seen a dramatic decrease in the most severe COVID-19 outcomes, that is to say, the ratio of cases to hospitalizations and, most importantly, the loss of life,” he said.

 

During the second wave, Kenney says those 65 years of age and older made up more than 60 per cent of hospitalizations, this has since decreased about to about 36 per cent in April and May.

“Currently, only about two out of ten Albertans hospitalized due to COVID-19 are over the age of 75, a drop of 50 per cent from the wave we experience in November/December,” he said. “It’s remarkable to see the effect the vaccines have on the group, this group in particular, seeing as many have now received both doses.

Kenney says Alberta currently leads all of Canada in double-doses administered at about 8.3 per cent.

As for Tuesday’s COVID-19 numbers update, Alberta identified 1,449 new cases of COVID-19.

The new cases come on about 11,800 tests, giving the province a positivity rate of roughly 12.7 per cent.

There are now 705 people in hospital, with 163 in the ICU.

Three additional deaths were reported on Tuesday.