Alberta Health Services says a large-scale COVID-19 vaccination site is to open at a convention centre in downtown Calgary next month.
The site – a partnership between the health agency, the City of Calgary and the Calgary Telus Convention Centre – will have about 100 vaccination stations once it’s running in early April.
That could expand to 120 stations, depending on vaccine availability. It will operate between eight and 16 hours a day, seven days a week, also contingent on supply.
Vaccine appointment bookings for the facility are to open later this month.
Early in the pandemic, the convention centre served as an overflow homeless shelter.
On Sunday, Alberta Health Services said more than 53,000 eligible Albertans had booked an appointment to receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which is not being offered to anyone over 65 or with chronic health conditions.
Canada pre-purchased millions of doses of seven different vaccine types, and Health Canada has approved four so far for the various provincial and territorial rollouts. All the drugs are fully effective in preventing serious illness and death, though some may do more than others to stop any symptomatic illness at all (which is where the efficacy rates cited below come in).
- Also known as: Comirnaty
- Approved on: Dec. 9, 2020
- Efficacy rate: 95 per cent with both doses in patients 16 and older, and 100 per cent in 12- to 15-year-olds
- Traits: Must be stored at -70 C, requiring specialized ultracold freezers. It is a new type of mRNA-based vaccine that gives the body a sample of the virus’s DNA to teach immune systems how to fight it. Health Canada has authorized it for use in people as young as 12.
- Also known as: SpikeVax
- Approved on: Dec. 23, 2020
- Efficacy rate: 94 per cent with both doses in patients 18 and older, and 100 per cent in 12- to 17-year-olds
- Traits: Like Pfizer’s vaccine, this one is mRNA-based, but it can be stored at -20 C. It’s approved for use in Canada for ages 12 and up.
- Also known as: Vaxzevria
- Approved on: Feb. 26, 2021
- Efficacy rate: 62 per cent two weeks after the second dose
- Traits: This comes in two versions approved for Canadian use, the kind made in Europe and the same drug made by a different process in India (where it is called Covishield). The National Advisory Committee on Immunization’s latest guidance is that its okay for people 30 and older to get it if they can’t or don’t want to wait for an mRNA vaccine, but to guard against the risk of a rare blood-clotting disorder, all provinces have stopped giving first doses of AstraZeneca.
- Also known as: Janssen
- Approved on: March 5, 2021
- Efficacy rate: 66 per cent two weeks after the single dose
- Traits: Unlike the other vaccines, this one comes in a single injection. NACI says it should be offered to Canadians 30 and older, but Health Canada paused distribution of the drug for now as it investigates inspection concerns at a Maryland facility where the active ingredient was made.
How many vaccine doses do I get?
All vaccines except Johnson & Johnson’s require two doses, though even for double-dose drugs, research suggests the first shots may give fairly strong protection. This has led health agencies to focus on getting first shots to as many people as possible, then delaying boosters by up to four months. To see how many doses your province or territory has administered so far, check our vaccine tracker for the latest numbers.
That means there are fewer than 5,000 doses left from the province’s initial allotment, though more supplies are coming.
Online bookings for that vaccine closed Monday, but all Albertans born between 1957 and 1961 and Indigenous people born between 1972 and 1976 can still call the 811 Health Link line for a spot.
Also on Monday, Alberta began offering two other approved vaccines to seniors younger than 75.
All Albertans born in 1947 and Indigenous people born in 1962 are able to book through Alberta Health Services. More appointments will be offered by birth year as the week progresses.
Pharmacies have begun offering appointments to all Albertans born in 1956 and earlier and Indigenous people born in 1971 or earlier.
Canada's top doctor Theresa Tam says there is a need to collect and analyze data on the new variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 to avoid new outbreaks. Tam says looking at the data coming from other countries is important but is not enough.
The Canadian Press
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