Alberta’s chief medical officer of health is scheduled to provide an update on COVID-19 Thursday afternoon.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw is set to speak at 3:30 p.m. The news conference will be streamed live in this story post.
Thursday’s update comes one day after the province announced it will extend the amount of time between COVID-19 vaccine doses for Albertans.
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On Wednesday, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommended first and second doses can be administered up to four months apart if supplies are limited.
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Provinces, territories can wait 4 months to administer 2nd COVID-19 shot, NACI says
Hinshaw said this will allow more Albertans to be effectively vaccinated sooner.
She said the plan is for Alberta to match British Columbia, which announced Monday it will follow the four-month window and get a first dose to everyone who wants one by July.
The decision was made based on emerging studies in places including Quebec, the United Kingdom and Israel that show even one dose of vaccine can be about 70 to 80 per cent effective.
As of March 2, 255,283 doses of COVID-19 had been administered in Alberta, with 89,094 people fully vaccinated with two doses.
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On Wednesday, Alberta identified 402 new cases of COVID-19 and 12 additional deaths from the disease.