The province has reached another vaccine milestone.
As of Tuesday (Dec.14), 85 per cent of eligible Albertans over the age of 12 are now fully vaccinated.
Additionally, 89.4 per cent have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 24.7 per cent of kids 5-11 have also had their first dose.
A total of 7.22-million doses of the vaccine have been administered in the province.
“This is a tremendous milestone in our effort to keep Albertans safe against COVID-19. With more and more Albertans getting vaccinated, we are seeing the pressure on our healthcare system easing along with the numbers of Albertans falling severely ill,” stated health minister Jason Copping.
The province identified 473 new cases of the virus on Thursday. Currently, there are 352 people in hospital and 70 in intensive care.
There are 4,212 active cases.
59 new cases of the Omicron variant were detected in Alberta on Thursday. On Twitter, the chief medical officer of health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, explained the jump in cases was due to their labs moving to a quicker testing process for the variant, making several days of results come in all at once.
The 59 new Omicron cases we are reporting today are mostly from three days of samples between Dec 12 and 14. Our total number of cases is now 119. (5/8)
— Dr. Deena Hinshaw (@CMOH_Alberta) December 16, 2021
No new deaths were reported on Thursday. A total of 3,285 Albertans have passed away due to COVID-19.
Local update
For the local area, here are the number of active cases as of Thursday (Dec.16):
- Fort Saskatchewan: 25 cases
- Sherwood Park: 74 cases
- Strathcona County: 29 cases
- Sturgeon County: 17 cases
- Morinville: nine cases
- Lamont County: zero cases
The total per cent of people over five who are fully immunized:
- Fort Saskatchewan: 78.3 per cent
- Sherwood Park: 83.3 per cent
- Strathcona County: 78.4 per cent
- Sturgeon County West (including Morinville): 73.6 per cent
- Sturgeon County East: 72.4 per cent
- Lamont County: 69.6 per cent
Several local schools are currently listed as being under “Alert” status, including:
- Ecole Ardrossan Elementary School, Ardrossan (Alert 2-4 Cases)
- Notre Dame Elementary School, Morinville (Alert 2-4 Cases)
- Ecole Claudette-et-Denis-Tardif, Sherwood Park (Alert 2-4 Cases)
- Ecole Pere Kenneth Kearns Catholic School, Sherwood Park (Alert 2-4 Cases)
- Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic School, Sherwood Park (Alert 2-4 Cases)
- Strathcona Christian Academy Elementary School, Sherwood Park (Alert 5-9 Cases)
- Wes Hosford School, Sherwood Park (Alert 5-9 Cases)