Kenney urges COVID vigilance as we head into winter months

EDMONTON – The premier of Alberta’s messaging has changed drastically from “Best Summer Ever”, which was the slogan at the beginning of July, to a winter of vigilance.

In a Facebook Live, Premier Jason Kenney says with winter just around the corner, restrictions will continue into 2022.

“It appears the fourth wave is coming down. We see COVID-19 shrinking in Alberta. All of those things are good news, but it’s still too soon (to lift restrictions),” Kenney explained.

“Why? Because we are headed into colder weather. People are indoors more, which leads to a risk of higher transmission.”


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He says vaccines are key.

“The reason why Alberta and Saskatchewan were together hit so hard by this fourth wave was the under-vaccination in our provinces.”

“If we just keep getting more people vaccinated, I think not only will we get this fourth wave under control, but we can protect ourselves from future waves and that brings forward the date when we can finally put behind us the use of public health restrictions for once and for all,” Kenney added.

He says while he’d like to reach a 100 per cent vaccination rate, he points out it won’t happen.

“I think realistically, it’s now possible that we could hit 90 per cent in Alberta, and I certainly would be one happy camper if we got to 90 per cent of the eligible population, that’s those who are 12 and over, for at least first dose coverage. Eventually, second dose coverage would catch up to that.”


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As of Tuesday, 85.5 per cent of eligible Albertans have at least their first dose of the vaccine, while 76.2 per cent have their second.

“We’re getting there, every extra point is lives saved, less pressure on the hospital system, and being able to move past the pandemic once and for all more quickly,” he added.

On Wednesday, Alberta recorded a record-matching 38 COVID-19 deaths.

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