CALGARY

Nearly 1.4M doses of the influenza vaccine administered in Alberta

CTVNewsCalgary.ca

Michael Franklin CTVNewsCalgary.ca Senior Digital Producer

Published Thursday, February 27, 2020 11:47AM MST Last Updated Thursday, February 27, 2020 4:09PM MST

calgary, alberta, flu, influenza, alberta health s

The number of flu shots administered so far in Alberta has already surpassed the total amount given during the 2018/19 season.

Text:

CALGARY -- Doctors, nurses and pharmacists have given out just under 1.4 million doses of the flu vaccine so far this season, which is already nearly 100,000 more shots over last year.

Alberta Health Services shared the details in their weekly report released Thursday.

The data shows 1,391,806 shots were administered throughout the province, with 606,572 in the Calgary Zone alone.

The Edmonton Zone had the second highest number of residents (459.504) being immunized against the most common strains of the flu, followed by the Central Zone, North Zone and South Zone.

Health officials say 32 people have died in hospital from the flu, a figure that is unchanged from last week's report that saw four more deaths in the Calgary Zone and three more in the Edmonton Zone.

So far, 6,809 cases of influenza have been confirmed in Alberta, which is nearly 1,000 more cases than in the 2018-19 season.

Doctors say the best protection against the flu is to get the flu shot and wash your hands regularly.