50,000th Hatter gets first dose

By COLLIN GALLANT on November 16, 2021.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant

Sometime on Sunday, Medicine Hat’s 50,000th resident received a first-dose of coronavirus vaccine, marking a milestone in what health and safety officials say is an incredible uptake that still has a ways to go.

The figure means five out of six Hatters who are eligible to receive a vaccine have done so, but still about 9,000 haven’t despite months of doctors and provincial officials imploring those who are hesitant or outright oppose vaccinations to get the shot.

“It’s been an considerable increase,” said Merrick Brown, the director of emergency management for the City of Medicine Hat. “You have to applaud Hatters. We’re steadily creeping up toward the provincial average, which was the initial goal.

“The eventual goal is that everyone who can get vaccinated does.”

Total number of first-shot vaccinated Albertans with a Medicine Hat address sat at 50,023 at the end of the day on Sunday, equal to about 86.4% of the population older than 12.

That is about 7,000 more than in mid-August, when AHS and the City of Medicine Hat joined in a campaign to boost vaccination rates as case rates and hospitalizations mounted, especially among the 20- to 39-year-old age group.

About half new first-shots are in that age group.

The rise in first-dose uptake is owing to several reasons, according to Brown, including general fear of illness and exponential case growth in the late summer and early fall.

A large increase came after the province’s “restriction exemptions program” or REP, often called a vaccine passport, in which some non-essential businesses can operate at regular capacity if clientele proved vaccination.

On Monday a provincially issued computer “QR Code” became the standard document to prove vaccination status.

First-dose coverage generally mirrors a willingness to get a second dose, at which point, a person is considered fully immunized.

Those with second doses in Medicine Hat numbered 46,916, or about 78.9% of the eligible population.

Officials with Health Canada said late last week that vaccines could be approved for use in those aged 5-12 by late November. According to statistics, those under 12 in Medicine Hat number about 9,000.

About 6,500 Hatters have received their first shot since Sept. 10, and the local rate has grown faster than new provincial coverage, but hasn’t caught up.

First-dose coverage across Alberta is about 88% for those eligible, and second-does coverage is at 82.2% – about three points better than the Hat in both categories.

But, the local pace is slowing. About 2,200 members of the 20 to 39 age group received a first shot between Sept. 10 and Oct. 21 during the height of the fourth wave of cases. The total has grown by only 500 in three weeks since.

Dr. Paul Parks has been vocal about the need for vaccinations to stem the tide of severe cases of COVID-19 entering hospital. Even as those case numbers are dropping, he said, vaccine still protects individuals and others.

“I’m extremely encouraged that more people in our community are becoming vaccinated against COVID-19,” said Parks, the local head of emergency medicine as well as the Alberta Medical Association.

“The number of cases in our area is lowering, but we are still seeing some very sick people requiring hospital admission for COVID-19. By far the vast majority of patients currently presenting to our hospital with COVID-19 are not immunized, and so the only path out of this pandemic is through widespread vaccination.”

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