More Alberta health-care workers eligible for vaccine starting Monday

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Alberta’s once-sluggish COVID-19 vaccine rollout accelerated again Saturday, as the province announced more than 240,000 additional workers can book their shots starting Monday.

The expansion comes as the province reports another 1,293 cases of the novel coronavirus, and a record surge in the ultra-contagious P.1 variant.

Premier Jason Kenney said health-care workers in Phase 2C of the vaccine rollout are the next group in line to be immunized against COVID-19.

The list of those newly eligible is broad. It includes all family doctors, nurses in the community, pharmacists, dentists and optometrists. It also includes addictions counsellors, chiropractors, laboratory technicians and psychologists, among other health-care professionals. Practicum students in clinical placements are also eligible.

All those working in patient-care facilities who provide services directly to members of the public in Alberta Health Services, Covenant Health, Alberta Precision Labs and DynaLife workplaces are also eligible, as are health-care workers on First Nation reserves and Metis Settlements. Support staff in these environments, including cleaning, reception and security workers, can also book their shots.

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Albertans in these groups must provide proof of employment or professional registration at their vaccine appointments. Bookings will be available through AHS at alberta.ca/vaccine and 811 Health Link, or at participating pharmacies.

“Today (Saturday) is the first step in beginning Phase 2C of the vaccine rollout,” Kenney said.

“Hospital staff, both on the front lines and behind the scenes are ready to move to protect this next group.”

The expansion means more than 1.7 million Albertans will be eligible for vaccines, about half of the province’s adult population.

The wide expansion of vaccine eligibility to health-care workers follows a campaign that saw roughly 55,000 front-line staff, including COVID ward doctors, ICU workers and respiratory therapists, get the jab early in 2021.

Other groups in Phase 2C of Alberta’s vaccine rollout, including caregivers and workers and residents in congregate settings like prisons, are still not yet eligible, but will be “in the coming weeks” as Alberta receives additional supply.

Record surge in P.1 variant recorded Saturday

Variant cases spiked Saturday as Alberta reported 1,293 more people had tested positive for COVID-19.

The province reported a record 876 new variant cases Saturday. The majority are the B.1.1.7 strain, first found in the United Kingdom, which has become the dominant strain in Alberta.

Fifty-eight of the new variant cases, however, are the P.1 variant which originated in Brazil. Alberta has now identified 81 P.1 cases. Early evidence shows the P.1 variant, which has driven viral growth in British Columbia, is as much as 2.5 times as transmissible as the previously dominant wild strain of COVID-19.

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As well, one new case of the B.1.351 variant, first found in South Africa, was detected.

The 1,293 total new infections Saturday came from 14,371 tests, representing a nine per cent positivity rate. The rate is below the seven-day average of 9.6 per cent, but is similar to positivity rates logged during the peak of the second wave of COVID-19 infections last December.

Kenney said Saturday he expects to see daily case counts exceed 2,000 in the near future.

Active case counts rose Saturday to 13,687, their highest point since New Year’s Day. At the height of Alberta’s second wave, there were nearly 21,000 active cases in the province.

COVID-19 hospitalizations rose five per cent Saturday, to 349 from 333 the previous day. Admissions to intensive-care units ticked up slightly, rising to 84 from 83.

Five more deaths of Albertans from the coronavirus were also reported. Three of the deaths — a man in his 50s, a man in his 60s and a woman in her 80s — were in the Calgary region.

Alberta’s death toll from the pandemic is now 2,012.

Vaccine expansion just the latest in Alberta, but groups including teachers still omitted

The scaled-up eligibility for health-care workers follows a series of other vaccine expansions over the last week. All Albertans aged 55 to 64 without chronic health conditions can now book their AstraZeneca shots, while all Albertans born in 2005 or earlier with a health condition may schedule an appointment.

It also comes on the heels of an acceleration to Alberta’s daily COVID-19 jabs.

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The province reported its most doses of vaccine administered in a single day Thursday, with 38,872 shots given. Friday’s 28,941 shots marked the second-highest count.

Now, 684,098 Albertans have had their first dose of vaccine, representing 15.5 per cent of the province and 19.9 per cent of its adults.

Despite the widened eligibility, Kenney said some front-line workers, including teachers and school staff, still would not be allowed to get the jab.

He said vaccine priority was determined by two scientific panels and approved by chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw, adding those groups determined teachers are not among the most likely people to suffer negative outcomes from COVID-19.

“We are not going to do this based on arbitrary pressure but instead on the scientific advice,” Kenney said. He added it would be “a real misallocation” of vaccine supply to put a young teacher ahead of other groups for immunization.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization advises front-line staff like teachers who cannot work virtually be prioritized for vaccine.

Alberta Teachers’ Association president Jason Schilling said those recommendations should be taken into account when bringing more groups on board for immunization.

“The most mind-boggling part of (Saturday’s) announcement is the decision to exclude school workers from expansions to the vaccination program,” Schilling said in a statement.

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“This is the single biggest thing that would make teachers feel safer.”

According to current federal forecasts, Alberta will receive about 120,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine each week through the end of May, as well as 134,800 more Moderna doses by the end of April and a yet-to-be-specific number of doses of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine later this month.

Kenney said with upcoming supply, Alberta Health Services could complete 400,000 to 500,000 doses each week, lifting the majority of restrictions on daily life in June.

“I believe we’re going to have a Calgary Stampede. We’re going to have outdoor events. We’re going to have most of these restrictions lifted gradually through May and June,” the premier said. “But we’re got to get through the next few weeks and beat this spike.”

Tens of thousands of AstraZeneca appointments for those aged 55 to 64 remain available through AHS.

However, Kenney said the province may not be able to administer its entire inventory of 175,400 AstraZeneca shots due to low uptake amid concerns over blood clots from the vaccine. In Europe, blood clotting from AstraZeneca has occurred at a rate of about one in 100,000 immunizations; no instances of blood clotting linked to the vaccine have been reported in Canada.

jherring@postmedia.com

Twitter: @jasonfherring