Pearl Lorentzen
Lakeside Leader

As of August 2, everyone in Alberta except babies under six-months old can be vaccinated against COVID-19.

That day, the province of Alberta started having COVID vaccine appointments for children six months to five years old.

The news release says, “The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is the first to be authorized in Canada for use in children under five years of age. Its availability provides parents and guardians with a vaccine option to protect younger children against COVID-19.”

In the news release, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, chief medical officer of health says, “While most children are not at high risk of severe outcomes, children under five have higher risks than those age five to 11. I encourage parents and guardians to speak to a trusted health-care provider for questions about their child’s health, including questions about COVID-19 and immunization.”

Vaccine appointments are through bookvaccine.alberta.ca or by calling Health Link at 811.

Everyone five and older was already eligible to be vaccinated. To be fully vaccinated, people need two shots. A second booster dose (fourth shot) is available for people 18 and older who had their first booster (third shot) at least five months earlier. First booster doses are available for people aged 12 to 17.

For COVID-19 numbers, the M.D. of Lesser Slave River includes Slave Lake and Sawridge First Nation. As of August 1 (the last day before printing that data was available), there had been 1,457 cases total since March 2020, two were new in the previous seven days, and 16 people had died from COVID. This was the same number of deaths as reported in the last Leader update, which was back in June 2022.