‘The magnitude of how hard we try does matter’: Alberta refocuses vaccination efforts as numbers level off
CALGARY — Alberta’s vaccination rate has been levelling off.
The percentage of those with at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine went up 5 per cent over the last month after rocketing up over previous months.
Now, the province lags behind the national average when it comes to first doses.
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“We do see much lower uptake amongst rural residents,” said Jia Hu, a public health physician and chair of 19 to Zero.
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Health Minister Tyler Shandro says the province sent a notice to doctors in areas with low vaccine uptake to go through their patient rosters and reach out to those hesitant.
“I think we just have to double down on a lot of the efforts that we’ve taken to get here,” said Hu. “I mean, the magnitude of how hard we try does matter. So, this means probably better access in rural areas.”
Hu says some Albertans may be less motivated to get the shot now that the province is seeing low COVID-19 numbers and lifted restrictions.
“Yes, we are in a good spot for sure — and thank you, everybody. However, we know this thing is tricky, this COVID thing is tricky. And I really would prefer to never have a lockdown again.”
When asked how he feels about the province’s ability to achieve herd immunity, Shandro referred the question back to experts.
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“For us, the advice we’re getting from Dr. (Deena) Hinshaw and her office is that they’re setting second dose coverage at 65 per cent, second dose coverage for us to be looking at that recovery phase that we’d be looking at as a province. I don’t see any concerns with getting to 65 per cent,” said Shandro.
The province is currently at 44 per cent.
But a recovery level — different than the estimated 80 plus per cent needed for herd immunity. Hu believes Canada could get there, which would result in better health outcomes, reduce the need for possible future lockdowns, and limit the virus’s ability to mutate.
That last point is a problem on the global stage.
“So long as large swaths of the world’s population are unimmunized, have COVID, they can serve as little incubators for variants,” said Hu.