EDMONTON — Alberta Health says children between the ages of 12 and 17 can receive a booster shot of COVID-19 vaccine next week, as long as there has been a minimum five months since their second dose.
The province says appointments for those third doses can now be booked for March 14 onward at Alberta Health Services clinics and participating pharmacies.
Health Minister Jason Copping also says that effective at 4 p.m. Thursday, AHS will no longer require proof of COVID-19 vaccination or regular rapid testing of its workers.
Nearly all pandemic public health measures in Alberta have been lifted.
Alberta started Step 2 of its reopening plan last week by removing its provincewide mask mandate, indoor gathering restrictions, a work from home directive and remaining capacity limits.
But masking is still required in high-risk settings, including AHS facilities, all continuing care settings and on public transit.
The City of Edmonton was debating Tuesday afternoon whether to keep its face-covering bylaw, as the province introduced a bill that would require municipal bylaws related to COVID-19 to be approved by the minister of Municipal Affairs.
Premier Jason Kenney has said the province is working toward a third stage where people with COVID-19 would no longer have to isolate, and COVID-19 protocols will be lifted in continuing care facilities.
A date has not been set, but Kenney has said any further easing of restrictions will be dependent on hospitalization trends.
Copping said during Tuesday's COVID-19 briefing that new daily hospital admissions have dropped almost every day for more than a month since they peaked on Feb. 7.
"As we ease restrictions and move forward together, we cannot ignore the strain that COVID-19 has placed on our health-care system," Copping said.
"We must build our system capacity to ensure that Albertans continue to get the high quality care they need and that they deserve."
He said the provincial government would be spending $300 million over three years to add capacity in intensive care units, and $100 would go to opening up to 50 new and permanent ICU beds.
The province would then spend another $100 million each year over the following two years to keep those beds operational, he said.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province's chief medical officer of health, reported seven new COVID-19 deaths, bringing the total number of people who have died of COVID-19 in Alberta to 3,979.
There were 1,106 people in hospital with COVID-19, including 77 in ICUs. Hinshaw said the test-positivity rate was at 20.5 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 8, 2022.
Daniela Germano, The Canadian Press
