COVID-19 booster shots available to more Albertans
Posted Nov 8, 2021 7:01 am.
Last Updated Nov 8, 2021 10:40 am.
The Government of Alberta is rolling out an expansion to booster shot eligibility.
Starting Monday, booster shots will be given to Albertans 70 and older, First Nations, Inuit, and Metis people 18 and older, and front-line health-care workers who have received their second dose less than eight weeks after their first dose.
“And so you may ask, why are we making this more generally available to the First Nations, Indigenous communities at 18 and above?” Premier Jason Kenney said.
“Well, the data sadly shows that Indigenous people have suffered significantly worse outcomes for COVID-19 than the general Alberta population and this is a reflection of that higher level of risk,” he explained.
“We want to provide that protection to anybody who might have an elevated risk level.”
Eligible groups can start booking their third COVID-19 shots now, but they have to wait six months between their second and third dose.
Kenney explained expansion to third dose eligibility is based on recommendations from both the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) and the Alberta Advisory Committee on Immunization.
Around 40,000 long-term care residents and over 180,000 immunocompromised Albertans have already received the third dose.
As of Thursday, 87.3 per cent of Albertans 12 and older have received at least one dose, while 80.9 per cent are fully vaccinated.
