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Alberta would be better off if restrictions came sooner: Tam

Last Updated Sep 16, 2021 at 11:42 am MDT

Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam looks on at the start of a technical briefing on the COVID pandemic in Canada, Friday, January 15, 2021 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA – Alberta’s COVID-19 situation wouldn’t be so dire if decisive action had been taken sooner, says Canada’s top doctor.

Dr. Theresa Tam was asked about the state of the pandemic in Alberta during a national update Thursday morning.

She says a major takeaway from what’s happening in the province is if health measures are taken away too quickly and vaccinations aren’t going up fast enough, the Delta variant is given lots of room to spread.

She says in places where vaccination rates are particularly low, tighter restrictions are likely needed to control the virus. And if you act early, you can avoid the more restrictive measures.

When it comes to making up ground lost thanks to the Kenney government’s “Open for Summer” plan, Tam says there needs to be a rapid escalation in vaccinations, especially among young adults.

However, it takes at least six weeks–two weeks after the second dose–for someone to be considered fully immunized, explains Tam, so even if vaccination rates explode, it would still be a while before Alberta sees the benefits.

In the meantime, people should be keeping to their bubbles and avoiding large gatherings to help reduce Delta’s accelerated spread.

-with files from Courtney Theriault