Alberta receives 5,000 doses of Janssen COVID-19 vaccine, confirms 841 new cases in 2 days | The Canadian News

Effective immediately, Albertans can book appointments to receive the COVID-19 vaccine from Janssen, or Johnson & Johnson.

In a press release on Friday, the province announced that Alberta had received 5,000 doses.

“Having the Janssen vaccine available in the province now gives Albertans more options when it comes to protecting themselves against COVID-19,” said Health Minister Jason Copping.

“Each dose administered not only protects people, but also our communities in general and the capacity of our health care system.”

Due to limited supply, the Janssen vaccine will only be administered at AHS clinics in select locations throughout the province.

Prime Minister Jason Kenney has been saying that some Albertans have expressed that they are waiting for the single-dose Janssen vaccine, rather than getting another brand that requires two doses.

“We have made the doses available and now we need these Albertans to go ahead and get vaccinated,” he said.

According to Kenney, these doses “are a start” and the province will continue to work to obtain more doses in an effort to vaccinate more Albertans.

According to COVID-19 figures from Friday, 87.7 percent of eligible Albertans ages 12 and older have at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. To date, 81.8% of the same age group are considered to be fully vaccinated.

Alberta confirmed an additional 841 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday. Those numbers include confirmed cases on Wednesday and Thursday, as the numbers were not released on Thursday due to the Remembrance Day holiday.

Alberta confirmed 470 cases on Wednesday and 371 on Thursday.

There are now 554 Albertans in the hospital receiving care for COVID-19, and 110 of those are in the ICU.

That compares with 582 in the hospital and 123 of those in the ICU in Wednesday’s update.

In the past two days, seven more deaths from COVID-19 were reported to the province.

Alberta has seen 3,171 people die from COVID-19.

As of Friday, there were 5,745 active cases of COVID-19 in Alberta.

Since the start of the pandemic, 329,030 Albertans have been diagnosed with COVID-19, while 320,114 have recovered.