Mobile clinic to hit the road next week

The Alberta government and a group of private sector businesses are launching a mobile clinic next week in an effort to get COVID-19 vaccines to remote and hard-toreach populations.

The clinic will do a tour around the province hitting rural communities, work camps, or places where vaccination uptake is low, a Thursday government news release said.

It's a joint initiative between Alberta Health and a coalition of businesses called the Industry for Vaccination, co-chaired by Suncor and the Business Council of Alberta.

James Puckrin, operating manager of ACESO Medical, said they anticipate being able to administer 300 doses a day per bus.

“This will allow us to target rural communities with lower uptake or where vaccines aren't readily accessible, as well as provide vaccinations at farms, plants, and worksites,” he said in the release.

Scott Crockatt, vice-president of communications and external relations at the Business Council of Alberta, said in an interview Thursday one bus will tour at least until the end of August, and the operating costs are being covered by businesses.

He said the government is providing the vaccine and paying the administrative costs.

Crockatt said for now it's a pilot with one bus, with at least a dozen different locations and worksites around the province having expressed interest, but it could be expanded and extended.

“We absolutely have a plan to scale it up to several buses very, very quickly, if that is required,” said Crockatt.

Towns, communities and worksites can request a booking online on the council's website.

He said the primary goal is to increase the vaccination rate.

“It's the right thing for the province and will save lives.”

In addition to that, there is the great aspect that the faster and more completely we get things open, and keep them open, the better it is for Albertans and the economy overall,” said Crockatt.

Health Minister Tyler Shandro said in the release he is grateful to the private sector and industry leaders for being involved in the project.

“They understand the value of getting our population protected so we can get back to our lives, our work, and past the pandemic,” said Shandro.

He added at an unrelated news conference Thursday that the project will also offer opportunities for people to have access to health-care professionals and get the right information about the safety and efficacy of vaccines.

As of Wednesday, 75 per cent of eligible Albertans aged 12 and older have received one dose of the COVID -19 vaccine.

In total, 5,128,351 doses have been administered in the province, an increase of 28,240.

“Seventy-five per cent of eligible Albertans vaccinated with at least one dose is a milestone to celebrate, but a quarter of eligible Albertans still do not have vaccine protection,” said Alberta's chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw in a news release. “We need to vaccinate as many people as possible now to protect us all in the weeks and months ahead.”

Of the eligible Albertans, 61.3 per cent are fully vaccinated with two doses.

On Thursday, Alberta reported 106 new cases of COVID-19 after 6,622 tests were completed for a positivity rate of 1.6 per cent.

There are 676 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, an increase of 27 since Wednesday.

There are 93 people hospitalized with the virus, a decrease of two.

Of those, 26 are in intensive care units, a decrease of one.

Two more deaths raised the provincial death toll to 2,320.

Seventy-six new cases of COVID-19 variants of concern were identified Thursday. Of those, 65 are the Delta variant, five are the Alpha variant, four are the Gamma variant, and two are the Beta variant.