Health care workers began getting their COVID-19 vaccination on Tuesday, a day earlier than the province had expected.
On Tuesday afternoon, just before 4 p.m., Alberta Premier Jason Kenney announced vaccinations are currently underway.
ICU doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists and some long-term care workers are part of the first round of vaccinations in the province.
Sahra Kaahiye, a respiratory therapist at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital in Edmonton, and Tanya Harvey, an intensive care nurse at the Foothills Medical Centre Cell in Calgary, were the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Some 29,000 Alberta health care workers will get their first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the month, with doses set to be distributed beginning Wednesday.
On Monday, the province announced a plan to deliver the vaccinations to health care workers by the end of December. The province has secured a second set of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, with 25,350 doses coming next week, on top of the 3,900 doses that have already arrived in the province.
Kenney said there is light at the end of the tunnel now that vaccinations are rolling out across the province
"Hope is here and the end of this terrible time is in sight."
The first doses have been delivered to Calgary and Edmonton and need to be distributed within days of delivery. Ultra-cold freezers needed for the Pfizer vaccines are now installed at eight locations across Alberta and AHS staff are being trained to ensure quality and safety are maintained.
Vaccines need to be given in two doses, one month apart, to be effective.
The next round of doses could arrive by next Tuesday,.
Pending final approval from Health Canada, the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is expected to arrive in Alberta later in December. The Moderna vaccine can be transported to other locations, so the initial shipment will be used to immunize residents at long-term care locations beginning with those at highest risk, including two First Nations seniors facilities.
As more shipments arrive in early January, immunization will focus on Phase 1 priority populations and will include residents of long-term care and designated supportive living facilities, followed by seniors aged 75 and up and First Nations on reserve, Inuit and on-settlement Metis individuals aged 65 and over.
Phase 2 is still expected to start by April 2021 and will be targeted to the next groups of prioritized populations. Final decisions regarding eligibility in Phase 2 have not yet been determined.
Phase 3 will involve rolling out vaccinations to the general Alberta population, and is anticipated to start later in 2021.
