The Province is reducing quarantine requirements for Albertans who are vaccinated.
Health minister Jason Copping says, starting today (Jan 3, 2022), people who've had at least two vaccine doses will have to isolate for five days instead of ten.
"If symptoms continue past five days then their isolation will need to continue until they are feeling better," he says. "For the five days following their isolation these individuals must wear a mask around others at all times when they're outside their home."
He says the change was made because of evidence that fully immunized people have shorter infectious periods.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw says while the Omicron variant may not be as serious as the Delta variant, there are still concerns about hospitalizations.
"Even though it seems that a smaller percentage of cases are requiring acute care, we can expect that with a greater number of people infected that will soon translate into a greater number of people in hospital," Hinshaw says. "In countries like the U.K. and Denmark, where Omicron is spreading widely their early reports of health system impacts indicate that hospital and ICU admissions are not rising as quickly as in previous waves. This is encouraging but not conclusive."
The Chief Medical Officer of Health says wherever you go and whatever you do to celebrate the new year you should anticipate that one or more people at any gathering will probably be infected with Omicron, even if they don't have symptoms.
"Unfortunately Omicron doesn't care about our celebrations, and it doesn't care that we miss getting together with family and friends, our best defence right now is to keep our social interactions small because wherever COVID has the chance to spread it will," said Dr. Hinshaw.
She urges Albertans who are eligible for a booster shot to take whichever one is available since the Pfizer vaccine is in short supply.