Alberta's health minister says COVID-19 case growth 'to be expected'
Thursday was another day of COVID-19 case increases in Alberta, but Health Minister Tyler Shandro says there's no reason to panic as the province heads into triple digits once again.
Alberta announced 106 new cases Thursday. 38 of those were in the Calgary zone, where there's been an alarming 81 per cent increase in the seven day average of new cases.
Much of that is being driven by those in the 20 to 40-year-old age group.
"That's to be expected throughout the summer," Shandro said. "The numbers are going to go up and they will go down. Our hospitalizations, those lagging metrics, are still trending in the right direction.
"The message is still that vaccines work. Vaccines are safe and effective and they are our way of getting numbers down."
UNVACCINATED INDIVIDUALS VULNERABLE
Ninety-six per cent of Alberta's cases in 2021 have been in unvaccinated individuals or in those still within a two-week window of their first dose.
"We still have more than a million Albertans who don't have a single vaccine in their arm," emergency room physician Joe Vipond told CTV News. "In particular, anybody less than 12 years old is not able to get a vaccine, so we still need to protect those people who cannot be vaccinated and those who will not be vaccinated."
Vipond called the case growth "alarming."
Dr. Joe Vipond
"We have had five days of increasingly increasing growth," he said. "That's not a comfortable stat."
The province is hoping its latest initiative to make vaccines as accessible as possible will make a dent in Alberta's relatively low immunization rates.
A new mobile clinic -- one of only two in the country -- will bring first and second doses to rural communities where uptake is low.
That will include some hard to reach populations and remote camps across the province.
The clinic will start operating next week.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Man sets self on fire outside New York court where Trump trial underway
A man set himself on fire on Friday outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump's historic hush-money trial was taking place as jury selection wrapped up, but officials said he did not appear to have been targeting Trump.
BREAKING Sask. father found guilty of withholding daughter to prevent her from getting COVID-19 vaccine
Michael Gordon Jackson, a Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter to prevent her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, has been found guilty for contravention of a custody order.
She set out to find a husband in a year. Then she matched with a guy on a dating app on the other side of the world
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
The Body Shop Canada explores sale as demand outpaces inventory: court filing
The Body Shop Canada is exploring a sale as it struggles to get its hands on enough inventory to keep up with "robust" sales after announcing it would file for creditor protection and close 33 stores.
Vicious attack on a dog ends with charges for northern Ont. suspect
Police in Sault Ste. Marie charged a 22-year-old man with animal cruelty following an attack on a dog Thursday morning.
On federal budget, Macklem says 'fiscal track has not changed significantly'
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says Canada's fiscal position has 'not changed significantly' following the release of the federal government's budget.