Health Minister Tyler Shandro said Alberta administered a daily record number of COVID-19 vaccines on Thursday.
“I think we hit a record yesterday,” he said Friday. “Over 11,000 vaccines in one day.
“Even though we have limited supply, even though we have had difficulty with the logistics in getting these out and having the supply limited, we hit another record.”
Alberta Health data shows 11,728 doses were administered Thursday.
Alberta is also immunizing the 75 and older demographic earlier than other provinces, Shandro said.
“We’re also providing vaccines for these folks much more quickly and before other provinces.”
As of Feb. 25, 207,300 doses had been administered in Alberta.
Alberta started allowing vaccine appointment bookings for anyone born in 1946 or earlier on Wednesday morning. As anticipated, demand for COVID-19 vaccination appointments for Albertans 75 and older was extremely high.
Shortly after 8 a.m., Albertans began reporting issues with the site crashing or not loading, and a busy signal when calling 811 to book appointments.
Alberta Health Services added additional staff and signage to all COVID-19 vaccine sites after seniors in Edmonton reported long lineups and lengthy wait times when they showed up for their appointments on Thursday.
AHS asked Albertans to arrive no more than 10 minutes before their scheduled appointment and to wait in their vehicle until their appointment time.
The lineups appeared shorter and less crowded on Friday.
However, there were crowds seen at the Skyview north Edmonton vaccination location Friday afternoon.
This was the scene at the south Edmonton vaccination site on Friday afternoon.
Shandro said Friday he understands why people are anxious to get their vaccine.
“There are no shortages of the vaccine for the appointments,” he stressed. “If you made an appointment, there is a vaccine for you.
“I do appreciate the anxiety that people have.
“Everyone wants to show up early and make sure they get their vaccine. I hope everybody understands: they will get the vaccine with that appointment. There’s no need for them to have that anxiety.”
Shandro said there were a couple of vaccination locations in particular where lineups were long.
“I also am advised by AHS that they’re doing their best… They have employees who are meeting people when they arrive, making sure they understand there is no shortage, they’re going to be able to get that vaccine for that appointment, encouraging people to not line up.”
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