Alberta gets first doses of COVID treatment Paxlovid as hospitalizations near 1,400

He said once the province sees a sustained drop in cases, then we can expect to be on the downslope in admissions within a few weeks.

Over the last seven days, an average of 58.6 per cent of new, non-ICU admissions and 66.1 per cent of new ICU admissions are directly due to COVID-19, Copping said. The remainder are patients with COVID-19 where admission was unrelated to COVID-19 or it’s unclear.

There are now 1,377 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, 111 of which are in ICU, and 3,483 deaths.

Albertans will also soon have another tool in the fight against COVID-19.

Copping announced that Paxlovid, an at-home prescription treatment, will be available in the province starting Jan. 31. Initially, 3,200 courses of treatment will be available to help keep eligible people with mild to moderate symptoms from experiencing severe illness and ending up in hospital.

Staff is currently developing implementation guidance for clinicians and pharmacists and It will only be available to those who need it the most.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw said those include “immunocompromised individuals age 18 and over, regardless of vaccination status, who have received transplants, who are cancer patients and have received chemotherapy or another immunosuppressive treatment in the past two years, or who have an inflammatory condition that they are being treated for such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus or inflammatory bowel disease.”

It will also be a possible option for unvaccinated Albertans over the age of 65 or those 18 and older with a pre-existing health condition such as diabetes, obesity, chronic kidney disease or obstructive pulmonary disease or congestive heart failure, said the chief medical officer of health.

She added people must have a confirmed case of COVID and be within five days of the onset of symptoms. An initial evaluation from HealthLink must also be completed.

She asked people not to call pharmacies or physicians to ask for a prescription for Paxlovid and stressed it is not a substitute for vaccination.

Hinshaw also corrected a statement from last week when she said there were no hospitalizations in the 5-11 age group among those with one dose of vaccine. Today, she said six people in that age group who have had one dose have been hospitalized. Comparatively, 75 kids in that age group with no vaccine have been hospitalized over past four months.

Alberta has also received about 500,000 additional doses of the Pfizer vaccine,” Copping said.

Among new cases today, 59 per cent are unvaccinated, 2.6 per cent have had one dose, 28.6 have had two doses and 9.8 per cent have had three doses.

The province-wide reproductive value for the week of Jan. 10-16 is 1.00. It is 1.04 in Calgary Zone, 0.96 in Edmonton Zone and 0.98 in the rest of Alberta.

At the last update from Dec. 27-Jan. 2, the numbers were 1.35 in the province, 1.34 in Calgary Zone, 1.30 in Edmonton Zone and 1.54 in the rest of Alberta.

NDP Health Critic David Shepherd issued the following statement in response to today’s COVID-19 update:

“At today’s COVID-19 update, Health Minister Jason Copping outlined the severe strain that Alberta’s healthcare system is facing due to this fifth wave of the pandemic, but took no responsibility for his own role in failing to prepare.

“There are more Albertans in hospital with COVID-19 than ever before, and the UCP refuses to take basic measures to slow spread in schools, workplaces, or post-secondary institutions.

“Frontline healthcare workers are severely burnt out, exhausted, and short-staffed while we make our way through this fifth wave of the pandemic.

“While I’m glad Jason Copping was able to isolate at home following his infection with COVID, many Alberta workers are forced to go to work with COVID because of the choices of his government.”

“Alberta continues to have the lowest level of youth vaccination rates in the country. If the UCP were serious about addressing this, they would be removing barriers for families to get their kids vaccinated by offering paediatric vaccines in schools and at pharmacies.”

NOTE: COVID data was not updated online until late Monday evening due to a technical delay, according to Alberta Health. However, geographic and other data were still not included in the update. Below is a brief summary of numbers shared by Alberta Health on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022 (up-to-date as of the end of Jan. 23, followed by today’s numbers…

Over the weekend…

Across the province

∙8,503 new cases
∙1,801 on Jan. 23
∙2,633 on Jan. 22
∙4,069 on Jan. 21

∙41 new deaths
∙Total: 3,470

∙55,685 active cases (-5,930)
∙1,304 in hospital (+112)
∙108 in ICU (+1)
∙8,182,284 doses administered
∙475,119 total cases
∙415,964 total recoveries

Central Zone

∙3,929 active cases
∙119 in hospital
∙6 in ICU
∙429 deaths
*New numbers for Red Deer are below

PROVINCIAL NUMBERS

*Numbers are up to date as of previous day’s end. Numbers in parentheses represent a one-day change unless otherwise noted

Hospitalizations: 1,377 (+73)

ICU admissions: 111 (+3)

People in hospital (non-ICU): 1,266

Deaths: 3,483 (+13)

MORE HEALTHCARE CAPACITY DATA

—

Total cases: 477,841 (+2,722)

Total recoveries: 423,201 (+7,237)

Active caseload: 51,157 (-4,528)

*With the province limiting testing in the fifth wave, these confirmed cases do not accurately reflect the number of cases in the community.

Tests completed: 6,718

Seven-day positivity rate: 36.9%

Active variant cases: 2,019 (-3,101) >> four-day change

Recorded Omicron cases: 22,642 (+484) >> four-day change

RED DEER

*Numbers are up to date as of previous day’s end. Numbers in parentheses represent a one-day change unless otherwise noted

Today’s numbers for Red Deer represent a four-day change

Total cases: 11,985 (+266)

Total recoveries: 10,841 (+474)

Active caseload: 1,060 (-208)

Deaths: 84 >> unchanged since Dec. 7, 2021

CENTRAL ZONE

*Numbers are up to date as of previous day’s end. Numbers in parentheses represent a one-day change unless otherwise noted

Hospitalizations: 134 (+15)

ICU admissions: 8 (+2)

Active caseload: 3,732 (-197)

Deaths: 429 (–)

Death details: n/a

Elsewhere in the zone

Today’s numbers for ‘Elsewhere in the zone’ represent a four-day change

Red Deer County: 243 (-40)

Sylvan Lake: 98 (-10)

Lacombe County: 132 (–)

City of Lacombe: 134 (+2)

Ponoka County: 729 (+92)

Brazeau County: 78 (-17)

Clearwater County: 92 (-15)

Mountain View County: 106 (-15)

Olds: 84 (-14)

Kneehill County: 49 (+1)

County of Stettler: 45 (-7)

For more data from central Alberta communities, click here.

VACCINATIONS

*Numbers are up to date as of previous day’s end. Numbers in parentheses represent a one-day change unless otherwise noted

Today’s numbers for ‘Vaccinations’ represent a four-day change

Province

Doses administered: 8,201,752

Of eligible 5+ population…

% one dose: 85.3

% two doses: 78.6

% three doses: 33.6

Of total population…

% one dose: 80.2

% two doses: 73.8

% three doses: 31.6

Red Deer

*The Government of Alberta says 100,446 people in Red Deer are eligible (5+) for vaccination, with a population of 106,420.The government has not yet begun sharing geographical data for those with booster doses.

People with one dose: 78,401 (+199)

People with two doses: 73,301 (+309)

% eligible pop.: 73.0

% total pop.: 68.9

People with three doses: 30,519 (+1,053)

% eligible pop.: 30.4

% total pop.: 28.7

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

Alberta gets first doses of COVID treatment Paxlovid as hospitalizations near 1,400

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