Parts of Calgary lead province in COVID-19 vaccine uptake

Some parts of Calgary are leading the way in vaccine uptake.

Ninety-nine per cent of people in the city’s upper northeast have had at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, and about 92 per cent are fully vaccinated.

In that same zone, 100 per cent of people aged 60 to 74 have their first dose, which works out to more than 11,500 people.

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That’s in deep contrast to other parts of the province, where Alberta health officials say vaccination rates are dangerously low.

The Spirit River area, for example, only has about 62 per cent of people with their first shot.

In May of this year – just over 30 per cent of northeast Calgary residents had been vaccinated — putting uptake at the lowest in the city as COVID cases were skyrocketed.

In response, several organizations, like the Centre for Newcomers and Immigrant Services Calgary came together to identify the barriers to getting vaccinated in these communities.

“Allowing vaccine clinics to be walk-in, to be within the communities, and to provide information in multiple languages was extremely important to being able to get vaccine numbers up,” said Lee Yuen, the president and CEO of the Centre for Newcomers.

Meanwhile, Immigrant Services Calgary created Gateway, a network of social resources to accommodate the challenges and barriers for the city’s newcomers.

“It’s a model that is based on getting the insights of the community and putting the community first in terms of what their needs are and identifying those needs and working collaboratively with all levels of government and with all community organizations,” said Yuen.

Over 6.6 million doses of the vaccine have been administered in Alberta.

Nearly 88 per cent of the eligible Albertans have at least one dose of the vaccine and 69.5 per cent of the total population has been fully vaccinated.

– With files from Jasmine Vickaryous