All Albertans age 18 and older can now book an appointment to receive their COVID-19 vaccine booster shot, as long as five months have passed since their second dose.
The Alberta government announced the expanded booster eligibility late Tuesday morning.
This means about 1.55 million additional people are now eligible for a third dose, Health Minister Jason Copping said.
Up until now, only Albertans age 50 and older, as well as health-care workers and those with specific underlying health conditions, were eligible to book a booster.
The province said it is launching the “ambitious booster shot campaign” to protect Albertans from the rapidly spreading Omicron variant of concern.
“There is still a lot that we don’t know about Omicron,” Premier Jason Kenney said in a news release.
“But one thing we do know is that the most powerful protection from this highly contagious variant is to get a booster shot. I urge all Albertans to step up and protect themselves and the health-care system with a booster as soon as they can.”
Alberta’s chief medical officer of health reiterated that third doses are especially important to protect against the Omicron variant.
“Vaccines continue to be our best protection against COVID-19 and with the highly transmissible Omicron variant, I encourage all eligible Albertans to book their first, second and third doses as soon as they are eligible,” Dr. Deena Hinshaw said.
The province encourages Albertans to take the first mRNA vaccine available to them for their third dose. Albertans aged 18 to 29 will receive the Pfizer vaccine for their booster as a precautionary measure, the province said.
“While there is a slightly increased risk of myocarditis in younger Albertans from Moderna (vaccine), especially in males, individuals are much more likely to experience myocarditis from COVID-19 infection than the vaccine,” read the province’s news release.
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There was immediate demand on the province’s vaccine booking website when the announcement was made Tuesday, with the site crashing for some users. It appeared to be back up and running by Tuesday afternoon.
Edmonton pharmacy owner Suhas Thaleshvar said he did not receive any communication about the expanded eligibility until his phones began ringing off the hook.
“Today has been absolutely overwhelming,” Thaleshvar said. “We have not received an official communication yet about the booster dose change, but we’ve now looked into it ourselves and found out that was the case.”
Thaleshvar said while it’s frustrating he wasn’t given a heads up, he understands decisions have to be made quickly.
“I understand that. It’s just unfortunate because the supply is so limited and it really puts a toll on the rest of the staff for booking appointments and also helping to navigate if someone’s eligible,” he said.
“Our last two orders have been cut a lot. So we have this perfect storm of doses available to us, at the same time as the eligibility criteria seems to be increasing.”
Despite the busy day, Thaleshvar said he’s encouraged to see so many people booking their third dose.
The expanded eligibility comes after Alberta saw a drastic spike in the number of Omicron cases identified over the weekend. Hinshaw said Tuesday that Omicron has become the dominant strain in Alberta.
On Tuesday, Alberta identified 786 new cases of COVID-19 over the last 24 hours.
Alberta has now identified a total of 1,609 cases of the Omicron variant — a jump of 564 cases since Monday.
Also Tuesday, Alberta announced additional public health measures aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19. The new restrictions were aimed at venues with large capacities.
Alberta’s chief medical officer of health also urged all Albertans to reduce their daily contacts by at least half.
Booster dose appointments can be booked with participating pharmacies or Alberta Health Services online or by calling AHS at 811.
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