Premier Kenney joined Dr. Hinshaw for a COVID-19 update on Tuesday, May 11. The vaccine uptake continues to rise and the new case numbers did decline a bit. 

On Monday, May 10, the first day that appointments opened to all Albertans 12 years of age and older there were more than 190,000 appointments booked to be immunized against COVID-19. 

Tomorrow (Wednesday, May 12) it is anticipated that the province will record its two millionth vaccination dose. Kenney says, " To put it into perspective, it took Alberta 119 days to reach our first one million doses administered and if we stay on target for tomorrow (Wednesday) it will have taken only 29 days to reach the second million."

Kenney also said that he had been impressed with the number of Generation X demographic that had stepped up to be vaccinated, but the Millennials and Generation Z stepped up in a big way yesterday. "In one day alone, we booked more than 190,000 appointments through AHS and pharmacies combined there are now over 328,000 people already signed up and booked to get their shot over the next week. That's almost 10 per cent of the entire eligible population in one week alone."

An update was provided on the AstraZeneca vaccine. To date, more than 255,000 Albertans have received the vaccine which means more than a quarter of a million people were protected with immunization from that AstraZeneca vaccine. The province does not know when another supply of AstraZeneca will arrive so effective today, the remaining supply the province has will be held for the second shot needed by Albertans in early June. From this day forward, the first doses of vaccine will be with Pfizer or Moderna. 

The COVID-19 numbers update for Tuesday were as follows.

  • There were 1,449 new cases reported in the past 24 hours with a positivity rate of 12.7 per cent.
  • Hospitalizations increased to 705 and ICU admissions also rose to 163. 
  • Three more deaths were reported bringing the total in the province to 2,119. 
  • Cochrane is reporting 210 active cases while Rocky View County is at 288. 

Dr. Hinshaw said that the R-value in the province is showing a decrease and "These are positive signs that transmission may be starting to slow – although the Calgary Zone is still quite high. Having said that, it is important to note that our active case count is the second-highest that it’s ever been and our positivity rate is still very high."

Despite the rising number of vaccinations, the need to continue to follow health protocols is necessary.