Hundreds line up for Astrazeneca as province clocks 1,700 more cases

Calgary's large-scale immunization clinic reached capacity for the second day in a row as hundreds lined up to receive the Astrazeneca vaccine by walk-in or appointment.

Alberta Health Services said walk-in clients were no longer being accepted at the downtown site, in the Telus Convention Centre, just hours after the doors opened Wednesday.

AHS urged locals to book through the online booking tool to secure a later spot.

The surge in Astrazeneca vaccine uptake came after Alberta expanded eligibility from people aged 55 and over to 40-plus. The city's downtown clinic went from thousands of unfilled appointments to back-to-back vaccinations on Tuesday and Wednesday, with thousands more spots being filled daily across the province.

AHS said 1,379 people were booked to receive the Astrazeneca vaccine on Wednesday at the downtown immunization clinic, in addition to 500 walk-ins. There are more than 6,000 additional appointments booked for Thursday and Friday.

Alberta's chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw and Premier Jason Kenney emphasized on Tuesday that all three vaccines currently available in Alberta — Pfizer, Moderna and Astrazeneca — are safe and effective in combating COVID -19 and adverse reactions to the virus.

They are urging anyone who is eligible to get vaccinated, especially as cases rise.

“I remain concerned about the high spread in our province,” Hinshaw said Wednesday. “We must all continue to work together on behalf of our loved ones, neighbours, co-workers and communities to bend the curve (and) drive cases down provincewide.”

Hinshaw provided a limited update on COVID -19 in the province on Wednesday due to a technical glitch.

Another 1,699 cases were recorded in Alberta, including 1,332 variants of concern. The active case count now sits at 18,873 — about 59 per cent of which are COVID -19 variants.

New cases come from 18,412 tests, meaning the positivity rate is about 9.5 per cent.

Hinshaw said 35,785 doses of vaccine were administered Tuesday. The province has now administered more than 1.23 million shots.

“Thank you to everyone who is getting the vaccine to protect their health and the health of everyone around them,” she said.

Astrazeneca is a “good choice,” Alberta's top doctor said Tuesday, as some anxieties persist. “In a time when exposure risk is rising sharply, the benefits of protection for anyone in this age group far outweigh the small risk of a rare blood clot,” she said.

Only three people across Canada have developed blood clots after receiving the Astrazeneca vaccine, including one man in Alberta. They are all recovering at home.

The three cases of vaccine-induced prothrombotic immune thrombocytopenia (VIPIT) come from almost 710,000 doses administered across Canada, as of April 10. This means just 0.0004 per cent of Astrazeneca vaccine recipients have experienced the reaction.

VIPIT is caused by an immune reaction that affects blood platelets, which leads to clots in the brain and digestive system.

We must all continue to work together ... to bend the curve (and) drive cases down provincewide.