The province has unveiled some preliminary planning as to just how close Alberta may be to not only receiving a COVID-19 vaccine but as to when they will be ready to distribute.
Premier Jason Kenney says the province will be prepared to receive and administer the first doses of the vaccine as quickly as they will become available. On Wednesday, Kenney added that the first shipment of vaccine doses, which could help vaccinate as many as 435,000 people, could be available as early as January 2021.
Kenney says the vaccine will be rolled out on a priority basis, with health care workers, seniors, and the most vulnerable of the population part of the first phase.
The second phase will see the vaccine made available to around 30 per cent of the population by the end of Spring 2021, while the general population may not be able to receive the vaccine until the summer or fall of next year.
Kenney adds Alberta Health Services already has 13 vaccine depots, all of which can receive and distribute the Moderna vaccine, which needs to be stored and transported at -20 degrees.
There are another 17 non-Alberta Health run depots also able to handle vaccine storage, meaning there are 30 vaccine depots across Alberta.”
Kenney adds three of the currently available depots can store the Pfizer vaccine, which needs a storage temperature of -80 celsius.