Alta. announces $100 gift card as incentive to get fully vaxxed

EDMONTON — Premier Jason Kenney, two months after declaring victory over COVID-19, is now offering $100 to Albertans who aren’t fully vaccinated to curb nation-leading cases of the illness that have again pushed the province’s hospitals to the brink.

Kenney said 70 per cent of eligible Albertans are fully vaccinated, and 78 per cent have had one dose, but immunization rates are stalling and the unvaccinated are swamping hospital beds.

He defended the $100 payout — to those over 18 who now get their first or second vaccination shots — against accusations it’s unfair to those who already got their shots.

“I wish we didn’t have to do this, but this is not a time for moral judgments. This is a time to get people vaccinated,” Kenney said Friday in Calgary.

He noted past incentives, including three $1-million lotteries, have not adequately moved the vaccination needle.

“We have left no stone unturned, and yet we have the lowest vaccination rate in Canada,” Kenney said.

“I’m much more concerned about protecting our hospitals than I am about some abstract message that this [$100] sends.”

The government also announced a provincewide mask mandate is back for all indoor public spaces and workplaces, except in schools, where decisions are up to school boards.

All licensed bars, restaurants and pubs must stop alcohol sales by 10 p.m., and all businesses are asked to rethink having staff return to work. Unvaccinated people are asked to limit close contacts to 10 people or less.

In recent weeks, Alberta has seen an increase in COVID-19 averaging more than 1,000 cases a day for the past week — the highest in Canada.

The province reported Friday that there were 487 people in hospital, with 114 of those patients in intensive care. That’s double the numbers from 11 days ago.