Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has announced a task force to lead COVID-19 distribution in the province (CPAC livestream)

By Troy Gillard

doses expected Jan. 4

Alberta creates COVID-19 vaccine task force

Dec 2, 2020 | 4:23 PM

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney announced a task force on Wednesday to execute Alberta’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution.

It will be led by Paul Wynnyk, deputy minister of municipal affairs, and will be a “multi-disciplinary team drawn from across the public sector.”

Kenney said the province expects doses to arrive by Jan. 4.

Vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer will be ready to be distributed within weeks, said Kenney, and the premier says Alberta is well-prepared to distribute and administer a vaccine as soon as doses arrive.

“Smooth and rapid vaccine distribution will not only be essential to our economic recovery, but they will be a matter of life and death for many Albertans and their families,” said Kenney.

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Kenney said the government will not make vaccination mandatory and will amend the Public Health Act to remove the power of mandatory inoculation, but strongly urged as many Albertans as possible to get vaccinated.

He said he will get vaccinated when it’s available to him.

The vaccine rollout will happen in three phases.

Phase 1 is expected to start early in the new year and run through March focusing on priority groups, identified as long-term care and designated supportive living residents and staff, and health-care personnel. It will also include on-reserve First Nations members over 65 years and seniors over 75 years old.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, said that focusing on those in continuing care facilities and health-care workers will reduce overall demand on the acute care health system by protecting the most vulnerable citizens and safeguarding health workers.

Phase 2 is expected to last from April to June. It’ll be up to Winnick and his team, Kenney said, to determine which Albertans the vaccine will be offered to during that period, but the premier said that the goal is to have up to 30 per cent of Albertans vaccinated by June.

Phase 3 should begin in the fall and will be when the vaccine will be offered to all Albertans, Kenney said.

Wynnyk said the task force will work with Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services throughout the process.

“Each and every dose of vaccine represents an Albertan who needs to be protected,” said Wynnyk.

(With file from Chris Brown – CHAT News Today)