Chief medical officer of health COVID-19 update – March 15, 2021

Check against delivery.

Thank you, Tom, and good afternoon everyone.

I apologize in advance for the length of my remarks today, but I have a lot of important information to share.

 Today, I would like to provide you our daily numbers and then update you on Phases 2B and 2C of our vaccine rollout.

Over the last 24 hours, we have identified 364 new cases of COVID-19.

We’ve completed about 6,600 tests and our positivity rate is about 5.5%.

We have identified 65 new cases involving variants of concern.

Over the last week, our R-value province wide was 1.07. We must all re-double our efforts to follow public health measures so we can drive Alberta’s RT-value back below 1.

Looking to schools, there are currently active alerts or outbreaks in 250 schools, or about 10% of schools in the province.

These schools have had a combined total of 1,106 cases since January 11th.

There are currently 255 people in hospital, including 42 admitted to the ICU.

Sadly, I must announce that three new deaths were reported to Alberta Health in the last 24 hours.

My deepest sympathies go to the family, friends and colleagues of these individuals and anyone who has recently lost someone they loved to any cause.

In Alberta, we have now administered more than 368,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

Every dose is possible thanks to the hard work of hundreds of different health care workers.

I would like to recognize the many, many people at Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services, as well as the frontline workers at immunization centres and community pharmacies, and soon to include community physicians, who are working very hard to protect Albertans through immunization.

Today, we started Phase 2A of our rollout, which includes anyone born in 1956 or earlier, and First Nations, Métis and Inuit people born before or during 1971.

Staff and residents of any licensed seniors supportive living facilities not included in Phase 1 are also eligible for the vaccine.

There has been strong interest, which is a great sign. As of earlier today, more than 8,000 Albertans had booked appointments through AHS and thousands more had booked through participating pharmacies.

I’m so grateful for everyone who is signing up.

I know many others are eager for their turn, and we are asking everyone to please be patient.

More than 437,000 people are eligible under Phase 2A.

AHS is booking one birth cohort at a time, and tomorrow they will open bookings for the next birth year. Please check the AHS website to see which birth years are eligible to make appointments.

Bookings for the new cohort will go live tomorrow at 10 o’clock to allow some improvements to the online booking tool to be made.

Of course, pharmacies continue to book appointments for everyone included in Phase 2A no matter what year you were born.

If AHS is not booking online for your birth year yet, or if the pharmacies near you are all full right now, please don’t worry.

More appointments will be available in the coming days and weeks as more doses arrive.

Everyone in Phase 2A will get their vaccine. No one will be left behind.

Once we’ve completed this phase, we will move to Phase 2B.

As you know, in 2B, we will offer the vaccine to Albertans with severe underlying conditions.

I know many Albertans have been anxiously waiting to see if their condition will be eligible.

I appreciate their patience, and recognize that many, many people would benefit from this vaccine.

Every single Albertan is deserving of it.

However, we have limited supply and so will once again be focusing on those most at risk of severe outcomes.

We have now posted a list on our website of underlying health conditions that will be eligible.

This list is based on the recommendations of the Alberta Advisory Committee on Immunization.

The health conditions that we are prioritizing were carefully considered based on our experience in Alberta, and evidence from around the world.

All of these conditions are associated with a higher risk of death or hospitalization even in younger age groups, when comparing their risks to those for people aged 50 to 64 with no underlying conditions.

These conditions are complex and every patient is unique.

I encourage everyone with underlying conditions to check the website to see if they will quality.

Among the many conditions listed, you will be eligible to receive the vaccine under Phase 2B:

• If you have chronic heart disease,
• If you have received a solid organ, bone marrow or stem cell transplant,
• If you have been diagnosed with or treated for cancer in the past year,
• If you have diabetes requiring insulin or other medication to control,
• Or if you suffer from severe obesity or chronic liver, lung or kidney disease.

Anyone with a severe learning disability, developmental delay, or severe neuromuscular condition will also be able to receive vaccine.

This includes those with Down Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy.

If you’ve been hospitalized at any point in the past year for a mental illness or a substance use disorder, you will also qualify.

If you are pregnant, you will also be able to get the vaccine.

I appreciate this list is complicated, and there are also other illnesses that fall under these categories that I did not name as examples.

As I mentioned, a detailed list of conditions eligible for vaccination in 2B is available on our website at alberta.ca.

I know the first question that many people will ask is whether they’ll need a doctor’s note or other proof of a certain condition.

You will not. We will be operating on the honour system, which is the same approach being taken by Ontario and other provinces.

However, anyone with one of these conditions can, if they wish, consult their health care provider before booking their appointment.

When Phase 2B begins, we will approach it in the same way that we are approaching Phase 2A:

All eligible Albertans will be able to book via pharmacies right away, and AHS will open bookings in stages, going by year of birth.

Along with this information about Phase 2B, I also want to provide more clarity for who will be eligible to receive the vaccine when Phase 2C begins later in April.

As we announced a few weeks ago, this phase will offer the vaccine to all health care workers who provide direct, in-person patient care or provide immunization services.

This means physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dentists and all other regulated health care professionals and their office or support staff who are in direct contact with patients, will be eligible.

For Alberta Health Services, Covenant, Alberta Precision Labs and DynaLife, this means people working in patient care facilities and those providing services directly to patients in the community.

First Nations health care workers on reserves and students undertaking their placement practicums in clinical areas will also be included in 2C.

Protecting health care workers, who have been caring for COVID-19 patients for more than a year, provides protection to every patient accessing care across the healthcare system,

By reducing the risk of health care workers becoming infected or spreading the virus to others.

We are also including individuals who are the designated family support people for residents living in a continuing care facility - recognizing the important support that loved ones play in care of those at risk.

Immunizing these people will help provide additional protection to our most vulnerable seniors.

When Phase 2C begins, caregivers of children who have high-risk underlying health conditions but cannot be immunized due to their age, will also be able to get the vaccine.

Phase 2C also includes sites where people live together in close proximity and those who support them, such as residents and staff at correctional facilities, homeless shelters and group homes including those for disability, mental health and other types of licensed supportive living.

Frontline police, and transport and court sheriffs who work closely with eligible congregate populations in shelters and correctional facilities will also be eligible under Phase 2C.

Finally, we are also including in Phase 2C all employees at meat packing plants, which will help prevent future large outbreaks.

Together, these phases represent a vast group of Albertans.

More than 660,000 Albertans will be eligible under Phase 2B, and another 400,000 will be able to book in Phase 2C.

That is roughly a million Albertans, and it will take some time to provide a vaccination to everyone who wants one.

We hope to begin these phases in April, beginning with Phase 2B.

Exact timing will depend on how many vaccines we receive, but we will keep you updated.

As I’ve said before, vaccines save lives and their benefits far, far outweigh any risks.

I continue encouraging everyone to book an appointment to be immunized when your turn comes.

Until then, we must continue protecting each other.

We must not let our guard down.

We need to continue following the public health measures that are in place, because the more tools we can arm ourselves with against the virus, the better protected we will be until vaccine can be offered to everyone.

Thank you and I am now happy to take questions.