Health Minister Tyler Shandro and Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr Deena Hinshaw during a COVID-19 update on Thursday. (Gov't of Alberta livestream)

By Chris Brown (CHAT News Today) and Josh Hall (rdnewsNOW)

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Shandro slams Trudeau gov’t on vaccines in latest COVID-19 update

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Health Minister Tyler Shandro says he’s frustrated by the delays and lower-than-expected COVID-19 vaccine shipments, saying Alberta is ready and able to push ahead with its immunization program as fast as the vaccines come.

He called the news today that Alberta will received 63,000 fewer does than expected in the first quarter of the year the latest in a series of unfulfilled promises from the federal government.

“Ottawa continues to fail us and to fail all Albertans,” Shandro said.

The military commander overseeing Canada’s vaccine rollout calls lower-than-expected shipments a “bump in the road” and says 20 million doses are expected between April and June.

Shandro noted more than 102,000 Albertans have received at least one dose of vaccine, while just over 12,000 have received two.

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Alberta Health is reporting 461 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, for a total of 122,821 recorded to date.

Active cases are down to 8,041 with 616 additional recoveries. With 12,300 tests done in the last day, the positivity rate sits just below four per cent.

The province also reported seven new deaths today for a total of 1,606. There are 591 people in hospital. down 13, and 112 in ICU, up two, across Alberta.

In Red Deer, there are 172 active cases, up 10. There were 16 new cases recorded in the last day. The city’s death toll stands at 18.

Meantime, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province’s chief medical officer of health, also addressed a federal plan to change the Pfizer vaccine’s label to say it is good for six doses.

She said a sixth dose has been safely extracted from about half the vials so far, numbers that are in line with other provinces.

“However, even with our trained professionals, it is not always possible to get six doses from every vial.”

She said a global shortage of a particular syringe is one factor in the difficulty of getting a sixth dose every time.

Hinshaw also said that there hasn’t been a single case of lab-confirmed influenza this flu season. She said that isn’t a result of not testing or testing fewer samples, and that testing is actually at a record high this year.

“The absence of seasonal influenza cases to date is a testament to our province and to the power of the actions we have been taking to protect each other. The measures in place to stop the spread of COVID-19 have stopped the spread of influenza,” she said.

Hinshaw’s next in-person update will be on Friday.

In Central Zone, there are 710 active cases, down two. A total of 38 new cases were reported in the zone Thursday. There are 46 people in hospital, down three, and seven in ICU, the same as yesterday. Deaths remain at 84.

There are 29 active cases in Red Deer County, down three, and 22 in Sylvan Lake, up one.

Lacombe County has 27, down one, and city of Lacombe, has 21, up one.

Ponoka County has 172 active cases, down six. Mountain View County has 18, down one, Olds has seven, down five, and Kneehill County has four, the same as yesterday. County of Stettler also remains steady at four.

Dr. Hinshaw also noted there are active alerts or outbreaks at 300 schools, or about 12 per cent of all schools in the province. Those schools have 593 active cases.

(with files from Chris Brown/CHATNewsToday)

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