Alberta vaccine program stalling
Only 240 doses administered Saturday as delivery disruptions limit supply
Only 240 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were given to Albertans on Saturday, keeping the total number administered under 100,000 entering the sixth week of immunizations.
By end of the day Saturday, Alberta Health Services had administered 99,047 vaccines, which is just over 2,300 doses per 100,000 population. The number is well below earlier projections about where the province would be with its vaccine rollout by the end of January.
Alberta's pace of inoculations has slowed drastically, likely because of a supply shortage due to a disruption to shipments of the Pfizer-biontech product. However, when asked by Postmedia about the reason for the low number of doses delivered, Alberta Health did not provide an answer.
AHS spokesman Sherene Khaw said a provincial update about vaccines is expected Monday.
Just two weeks ago, Premier Jason Kenney announced the capacity for administering the vaccine had expanded up to 3,800 doses per day, though he expressed concern for Alberta's dwindling supply.
“All I see is red on our projections from the week of Jan. 18 to the week of March 29. The red represents a shortage of supply,” Kenney said at a news conference Jan. 11.
On Friday, AHS administered 1,022 doses to eligible Albertans.
Alberta Health reported another 24 deaths Sunday and 13 Saturday, bringing the provincial death toll to 1,549.
Two of the deaths recorded Saturday were people in their 20s from the AHS Calgary zone, a man and a woman. According to Alberta Health, it's unknown whether the man had any comorbidities, but the woman did not.
One of the victims was 20 years old, the youngest Albertan to die of COVID -19. Previously, the youngest person reported to have died from the virus was 23. Seven Albertans in their 20s and another seven in their 30s have died of the virus.
Of the two deaths in the Calgary zone on Sunday, one was linked to an outbreak at Revera Edgemont retirement home in northwest Calgary. The outbreak there has resulted in six deaths and 34 recoveries. There are currently seven active cases.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw shared her condolences with the families of those who died while posting the day's statistics to Twitter on Sunday.
“We continue to see encouraging signs with the decline in active cases and hospitalizations. Let's keep the momentum going and follow all public health guidance to reduce the spread of COVID -19,” she wrote.
There were 463 new cases of COVID -19 reported Sunday based on 10,237 tests, for a positivity rate of 4.5 per cent, down from the 5.3 per cent positivity rate on Saturday.
The number of hospitalizations fell again on Sunday to 652, including 111 in intensive-care units. There were 676 in hospital on Saturday, 114 of them in ICU.
Thirty-eight per cent of Alberta's 9,511 active cases are in the Calgary zone, which is the AHS zone with the highest number of active cases.
DISCONTENT OVER TIMELINE FOR VACCINE ROLLOUT
As Alberta's COVID -19 vaccinations stall, some are frustrated by a lack of clarity over when it will be their turn to get a shot.
Mark Drury is co-owner of the Comfort Keepers Calgary private homecare company, which provides care for people in need of companionship or personal care. They are funded through clients and their families, and also work within some continuing-care facilities.
He has been unable to co-ordinate vaccinations for his workers, despite homecare workers being eligible under Phase 1A of immunizations, currently underway in Alberta.
“It doesn't make any distinction between family-funded and government-funded. There's no distinctions there,” Drury said. “All we've had so far from (Alberta Health Services) is crap, really. We had an email early on saying, `Please be patient.' That was when the main players, they were already getting vaccinations.”
Drury said his staff perform the same type of high-risk, close-contact work as their publicly funded counterparts.
Alberta Health Services said workers in private homecare for seniors are indeed currently eligible for COVID-19 vaccination.
“AHS has expressed challenges reaching some operators to identify their staff as these are private services. AHS is aware operators are trying to reach them, and we kindly ask for patience as rollout continues,” said Khaw, the AHS spokesperson.
“We are prioritizing these workers because they care for those most at risk of severe outcomes. We will expand this approach as more vaccine arrives.”
Drury said he is confused by the explanation that the province has had trouble reaching private homecare companies, saying his business has contacted them and its phone number is listed publicly.