Premier Jason Kenney made the announcement of Tuesday (Photo: Government of Alberta)

By Shaun Penner

More vaccines coming

Grande Prairie among communities to receive Moderna vaccine for long-term care residents

Dec 29, 2020 | 3:59 PM

Premier Jason Kenney says 16,900 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna are arriving in Alberta on Tuesday, with a portion of those being sent to Grande Prairie to immunize residents of long-term care homes and designated supportive living facilities.

Several Alberta communities are set to receive doses of the vaccine starting this week, including Lethbridge, Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Medicine Hat, St. Paul, and Fort Saskatchewan.

The province says inoculations will begin as soon as Wednesday.

“This is exciting news for staff, residents and families of residents of these facilities,” said Kenney. “Who have been on the frontlines of our battle with COVID-19 since the spring, and who have experienced untold pain and loss.”

Kenney says unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which has already been rolled out in Alberta, the Moderna vaccine does not need to be stored at ultra-low temperatures, making it easier to distribute to these facilities.

It was announced last week another shipment of 25,300 doses of the Pfizer vaccine had arrived in Alberta, and the first doses were given in Grande Prairie on Wednesday.

While this can be considered good news, Premier Kenney says the pandemic is far from over.

“We must continue to follow the health guidelines, and to do everything we can to keep each other safe.”

As more doses of both vaccines continue to roll into Alberta, Kenney says the focus will be on residents of long-term care and designated supportive living facilities. This will be followed by providing the vaccine to seniors over 75 years of age and Indigenous people on-reserve aged 65 and older.

All of this will occur as immunization of respiratory therapists, intensive care physicians and staff, and long-term care and designated supportive living facility workers across Alberta continues.