March 11, 2021
In the past two days, more than 24,000 Albertans have come one step closer to being protected against COVID-19 - including more than 11,500 today.
The rollout of the Covishield/AstraZeneca vaccine began at 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning, and as of 5 p.m. today, a total of 24,188 Albertans had successfully booked to receive that vaccine.
So far, Albertans from two groups have been eligible to receive the Covishield/AstraZeneca vaccine – all Albertans born in 1957 and 1958; and, all First Nations, Metis and Inuit people born in 1972 and 1973.
Tomorrow morning, that group expands again.
Beginning at 8 a.m., all Albertans born in 1959 and 1960 will also be eligible for the Covishield/AstraZeneca vaccine. This cohort will be able to book an immunization appointment using the AHS online booking tool, and by calling Health Link at 811.
This additional group also includes First Nations, Metis and Inuit people born in 1974 and 1975. This cohort will be able to book an immunization appointment ONLY by calling 811.
This means that as of tomorrow morning, all Albertans born in 1957, 1958, 1959 and 1960 and First Nations, Metis and Inuit born in 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1975 will be eligible for Covishield/AstraZeneca
We would like to thank all of those who have booked appointments so far. We have experienced very few delays, no technical issues and a significantly improved experience for people wanting to book appointments.
Much of this is due to people resisting the temptation to book at peak periods such as first thing in the morning, helping spread out demand on the AHS online booking tool and on Health Link 811.
Demand has been high, but it is extremely positive news that so many Albertans wish to be immunized. The more people who receive a vaccine, the less chance the virus has to spread, and the closer we all come to a return to our normal lives.
AHS continues to monitor both the online booking tool and Health Link to ensure they can meet demand. With this current phase of the rollout, they are both proving to be effective tools for Albertans wanting to book their immunization appointments.
Albertans in the other immunization categories – those aged 75+, eligible healthcare and continuing care staff, and First Nations, Inuit, Métis and persons 65 years of age and over living in a First Nations community or Metis Settlement – also continue to book appointments to receive the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
Both the online tool and Health Link continue to be available for people in those groups as well.
Eligibility:
We understand that there continues to be some confusion around who is eligible for the AstraZeneca/Covishield vaccine.
AstraZeneca/Covishield is recommended for adults aged 18 to 64; the current rollout is starting from with those born in 1957, and rolling to additional years from there. If you are 64 and born in 1956, you will be eligible for Pfizer or Moderna later this spring.
There is a lot of information out there regarding different vaccines, new shipments, and who is eligible to be immunized, and we acknowledge that it is not easy to stay on top of it all In terms of who is eligible for AstraZeneca, the key is the birth year, rather than age. If you were born in one of the eligible years, you can book an immunization appointment.
For more information on eligibility, visit: alberta.ca/covid19-vaccine.aspx
Vaccine supply:
The current supply of AstraZeneca/Covishield vaccine in Alberta is about 58,000 doses.
Please keep an eye on albertahealthservices.ca and albertahealth.ca for the latest on eligibility. We will continue to update via social media, the AHS website, and news conferences.
Pending vaccine supply, additional Albertans will be offered a chance to book in the coming days, rolling one or two birth years at a time.
First Nations, Metis and Inuit people unable to use the AHS online booking tool:
We have heard from First Nations, Metis and Inuit people regarding their inability to use the online booking tool to book their appointments.
Due to technical constraints, the online tool cannot yet be configured to include a cohort of one birth year without allowing every Albertan born in that year access – this means if we opened it up to 1972 and 1973 birth years, we could not exclude non-Indigenous Albertans (who are not yet eligible).
We felt that it was important to offer immunization appointments to those eligible First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people born in 1972-73, so rather than wait for a fix to the online tool, we worked with Health Link to provide them with an opportunity to book immediately.
We are working on a solution and hope to launch this next week. However, if you are hearing from your community please do assure them that we are booking those appointments and encourage them to contact 811 and select the vaccine booking option when prompted.
Safety of the AstraZeneca/Covishield vaccine:
We are aware of some reports regarding potential severe side effects out of Europe.
Canada has a robust surveillance system in place to detect rare occurrences that may or may not be related to vaccine.
It is important to note these are extremely rare events in an area that is using a lot of this vaccine.
There is currently no indication that vaccination has caused these events and the actions these countries have taken is out of an abundance of caution.
Alberta has a robust 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 is done by Alberta Health.
Health Canada authorized these vaccines after independent and thorough scientific reviews for safety, efficacy and quality.
Canadians can feel confident that the review process for each vaccine was rigorous and that there are systems in place to continue monitoring the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines after authorization.
We will continue to monitor this situation over the coming weeks and provide updates as more information becomes available.
For people who are concerned or have questions about the efficacy and safety of any of the COVID-19 vaccines, there is information on the Alberta government website.
And, there is additional information on the Health Canada website.
We will continue to provide Albertans with more information on the next step in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout soon.
