From: brewnoser2@gmail.com   
      
   The Canadian Press Apr 19, 2021   
      
   Alberta begins rolling out AstraZeneca COVID vaccine for those aged 40 or older   
      
   Alberta is allowing people as young as 40 to get the Oxford-AstraZeneca   
   COVID-19 vaccine starting Tuesday.   
      
   Tom McMillan, a spokesman for Alberta Health, says there are about 170,000   
   doses available and appointments will be booked for as long as supplies last.   
   He says it’s not clear when the next AstraZeneca batches will arrive.   
      
   More than 70 pharmacies are offering AstraZeneca, including 26 allowing for   
   walk-in appointments.   
      
   Alberta Health Services also has specific sites across the province, including   
   two walk-in clinics.   
      
   Lowering the age eligibility means 575,000 more Albertans have a chance at   
   being vaccinated — for a total of 2.3 million.   
      
   Ontario and Manitoba have made the same age change with AstraZeneca.   
      
   McMillan said Alberta reduced the age eligibility to 40 from 55 based on   
   health data and earlier concerns that higher-age groups have been hesitant   
   about taking it.   
      
   There have been reports of thousands of AstraZeneca appointments going unused   
   in recent days. Alberta has received 270,800 doses of AstraZeneca and as of   
   Sunday had administered just over 100,000 shots.   
      
   â€œWe’re making the decisions based, obviously, on the evidence available.   
   That said, there has been some hesitancy in some groups to book appointments   
   for this vaccine,â€� McMillan said Monday.   
      
   â€œBy opening up to (age) 40, we are balancing the evidence around safety as   
   well as the goal of getting doses into people’s arms as quickly as   
   possible.â€�   
      
   Vaccine hesitancy around AstraZeneca is due to reports of an extremely rare   
   blood clot disorder in some people who have received the vaccine. There have   
   been two cases in Canada — one in Quebec and one in Alberta.   
      
   In question period, Health Minister Tyler Shandro told the house that while   
   the “adverse reactionâ€� in the Alberta case reported on Saturday “is   
   unfortunate, it doesn’t change the risk assessment.â€�   
      
   â€œI was happy to hear that the patient was treated and is now recovering at   
   home. It’s important for us to remember this blood clot disorder is   
   extremely rare globally.â€�   
      
   He said AstraZeneca has been shown to reduce COVID-19 infections by 60 to 70   
   per cent, and severe outcomes such as hospitalization by 80 per cent.   
      
   Alberta currently has the highest rate of active COVID-19 cases in the country   
   with more than 400 infections per 100,000 people.   
      
   Premier Jason Kenney has said the situation has become a race between the   
   spread of COVID-19 variants and getting a critical mass of Albertans   
   vaccinated.   
      
   The variants, now the dominant strain in Alberta, are far more contagious and   
   have sent case rates and hospitalizations spiking in recent weeks.   
      
   Alberta has almost 18,000 active cases. There were 451 people in hospital, 103   
   of whom were in intensive care.   
      
   Kenney highlighted concern over the spread last week by twice reporting a   
   cautionary tale of a child’s birthday party in Athabasca, Alta., that turned   
   into a super-spreader event. Health officials could not confirm such an   
   outbreak occurred and Kenney†  
   ™s office later said he “misspoke.   
      
   Facing questions from the Opposition NDP in the house Monday, Kenney said he   
   had been given bad information.   
      
   â€œI was simply repeating information upon which I was briefed,â€� he said.   
   â€œI have to assume, the Opposition should as well, that our senior public   
   health officers speak accurately about these things.â€�   
   ___________________________   
      
   He's starting to sound like Trump more every day, isn't he? Trump used to get   
   all his facts from Twitter.   
   In this case, is he blaming "senior public health officers" for his bad   
   information ?   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)