Check against delivery.

Thank you, Minister, and good afternoon everyone.

Before we begin today’s update, I awould like to address concerns around reports from Europe where cases of blood clots have been reported in a small number of people after receiving some particular batches of AstraZeneca vaccine.

Blood clots happen in the general population for many different reasons, and there is currently no indication that vaccination has caused these events.

European countries that have paused use of these batches of vaccine have taken these actions out of an abundance of caution while they investigate.

It is important to note that these are extremely rare events in an area that is using a lot of vaccine. It’s also important to note that more than 11 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine have been given in the United Kingdom with no indication that blood clots have happened more often than in the general population. 

I want to assure everyone that the current doses of COVIShield AstraZeneca vaccine offered in Alberta have not been linked to these issues.

We are currently using COVIShield, the brand name of a vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India that is considered equivalent to AstraZeneca by Health Canada.

Health Canada authorized these vaccines after independent and thorough scientific reviews for safety, efficacy and quality, and Canada has a robust surveillance system in place to detect rare occurrences following vaccination. 

Canadians can feel confident that the review process for each vaccine was rigorous. They can trust that there are systems in place to continue monitoring the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines after authorization. 

Alberta has a strong adverse event surveillance system where any unfavorable health occurrence following immunization that can’t be explained must be reported. 

If there are any indications of potential safety concerns with vaccines used in Alberta, further investigation would be done by Alberta Health. 

We will continue to monitor this situation over the coming weeks and provide updates as more information becomes available, but the bottom line is that there is no current evidence that the vaccine is causing the reported blood clots, and we are not using the same batches of vaccine as were used in Europe.    

I encourage everyone to book an appointment for the vaccine, whichever type is offered, when they are eligible.

As of 2:30 this afternoon, more than 23,000 Albertans have signed up for their COVIShield AstraZeneca vaccine.

We continue to encourage Albertans born in 1957 or 1958, and First Nations, Métis and Inuit people born in 1972 or 1973, to book their appointments.

Based on expected available supply, we will be expanding the eligibility by two years starting tomorrow at 8 o’clock.

Starting tomorrow, Albertans born in 1957, 1958, 1959 and 1960 will be all able to book appointments online or by calling 811, and First Nations, Métis and Inuit people born in 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1975 can all book by calling 811.

Turning to today’s update, we have administered more than 317,500 doses of vaccine in our province, with more than 91,000 Albertans fully immunized.

Over the last 24 hours, we have identified 364 new cases of COVID-19 and completed about 10,200 tests. Our current positivity rate is about 4%.

We have identified 41 additional cases of variants of concern, bringing our total to 775.

Looking to schools, there are currently active alerts or outbreaks in 256 schools, or about 11% of schools in the province.

These schools have a combined total of 1,017 cases since January 11th.

There are 259 people in hospital, including 38 admitted to the ICU.

Sadly, five new deaths were reported to Alberta Health in the last 24 hours.

Every death represents a person who was loved by family and friends and who will be mourned. 

Today is a national day of observance to commemorate all those who died due to COVID-19 – a time to remember the many people we have lost, and a reminder that we must continue to do all we can to keep each other safe.

There have been over 1,900 deaths in Alberta, over 22,000 deaths in Canada, and more than 2.6 million lives lost worldwide.

My deepest condolences go to everyone who is grieving, and to everyone who has had to deal with loss during this challenging time.

Today’s announcement about the expansion of rapid testing in the province is an important step forward, not just today but in the weeks and months to come.

This adds to the protections to prevent more lives lost.

A year into the pandemic, we have many tools, including rapid testing, to use in our fight against COVID-19. But it is important to remember that we must use the right tool for the right job.

I’m as guilty as anyone of using whatever tool happens to be at hand if I need to hammer on something.

But other tools don’t really do the right job and can sometimes even cause damage.

When using any tool, whether in home improvement or fighting this virus, we must understand and respect what that tool can and cannot do.

Rapid testing is very helpful when used for frequent testing in a particular population over time. This allows it to function as a ‘red light test’.

What I mean by that is it can be used to ensure people who test positive get a red light “stop” signal and don’t enter a particular workplace or community. 

Unfortunately, it does not work as a ‘green light test,’ meaning that a negative test is not a go-ahead to do any kind of activity because the rapid test isn’t as sensitive as some of the other types of tests we use.

With a rapid test, it’s possible for someone to test negative and then potentially be infectious within that same day.

This underscores how important it is to remember how rapid tests work and how they don’t, so we can use them to improve safety, and not put safety at risk by providing a false sense of security.

Rapid testing adds to current measures, but does not replace them.

I know some Albertans may wonder whether we will still need all this testing as vaccines become more widely available and more people are immunized.

The answer is absolutely yes in the short term, as we look for evidence on how well the vaccines prevent people from getting mild or asymptomatic illness and understand more about the potential for a vaccinated person to pass a virus on to others.

Testing will continue to be an important tool in our fight against the virus… especially as Albertans will be getting immunized at different times, depending upon their eligibility, and because it takes two to three weeks following immunization to reach that level of protection.

We need to keep using the right tools, layering these approaches together to keep our communities safe as we continue to roll out our immunization program.

Thank you and we’re happy to take questions.