Alberta records lowest number of new COVID-19 cases in more than 10 months

Alberta reported 60 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, the lowest number in more than 10 months.

The daily count of new cases was the lowest since Aug. 9 of last year, when there were 45.

Two more deaths were reported to Alberta Health. Two men — one in his 50s and another in his 80s — died Sunday, both in the Calgary zone. As of Monday's update, 2,292 people have died of COVID-19 in Alberta.

Alberta had 2,003 active cases of the disease as of Sunday, the province reported. There were 214 people in hospital, including 56 patients in intensive care.

There were 2,833 tests performed in the last 24 hours, with a positivity rate of 1.8 per cent. Provincial labs also detected 33 cases of coronavirus variants of concern. 

As of end of day Sunday, 3,804,700 doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered in Alberta. 

About 70.7 per cent of eligible Albertans have had at least one dose of vaccine, while 29.2 per cent are fully immunized with two doses. 

Book that second dose, Hinshaw urges

Albertans are urged to book their first or second doses of vaccine as soon as possible.

The province's current inventory includes more than 453,000 doses of Pfizer and Moderna, the two approved mRNA vaccines, Alberta Health spokesperson Tom McMillan said Monday in an emailed statement.

Almost 360,000 mRNA doses are booked to be administered in the next seven days.

The province expects to receive fewer Pfizer doses in the coming weeks than it had anticipated. But an increase in Moderna shipments means Alberta will see an overall increase in supply of mRNA vaccines in July, McMillan said.

"For the next few weeks, we are expecting 266,000 fewer Pfizer doses than planned, but this is more than offset by an increase of 434,000 Moderna doses from last week's shipment," he said. "Overall we expect more mRNA doses, not less."

All current bookings will proceed as booked. Nobody will be switched or receive a different vaccine without their knowledge, McMillan said.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization advises that Pfizer and Moderna can be used interchangeably for second doses and Alberta is following that approach, Dr. Deena Hinshaw said Monday.

The province's chief medical officer of health said Albertans looking for second doses should take the first appointment available, with either vaccine.

"They're not identical but extremely similar and it's perfectly OK to get one dose of each," Hinshaw said on Twitter.

"In fact, there's some evidence that suggests this may actually boost your immune response."

 Appointments for mRNA vaccines are available at pharmacies and clinics.

"The sooner you're fully immunized with two doses, the safer you and those around you will be," Hinshaw said.

"Protect yourself and others as soon as possible."

Here's how current active cases break down across the province:

• Calgary zone: 954
• Edmonton zone: 370
• Central zone: 205
• South zone: 75
• North zone: 397
• Unknown: 2

The reproduction value, or R-value, from June 14 to June 20 was 0.75, with a confidence interval of between 0.70 and 0.80.

In the Edmonton zone, the R-value was 0.57 (0.48-0.68) compared to 0.86 (0.78-0.94) in Calgary and 0.70 (0.62-0.78) in the rest of Alberta.

As of Sunday, 227,124 Albertans had recovered from COVID-19.