Alberta will soon receive 25,350 doses of Pfizer vaccine and will start immunizing priority health-care workers provincewide. 

During the week of Dec. 21, Alberta will receive shipments of vaccines from Pfizer at dedicated vaccine sites across the province. 

Right now, the Pfizer vaccine must be administered at its delivery site, so these doses will be provided to respiratory therapists, intensive care unit physicians and staff, and eligible long-term care and designated supportive living workers across the province. 

These are in addition to the 3,900 doses that are expected to arrive this week and will begin to be administered in Calgary and Edmonton within days of delivery. The ultra-cold freezers needed for the Pfizer vaccines are now installed at eight locations across Alberta and AHS staff are being trained to ensure quality and safety are maintained. 

Pending final approval from Health Canada, the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is expected to arrive in Alberta later in December. The Moderna vaccines can be transported to other locations, so the initial shipment will be used to immunize residents at long-term care locations beginning with those at highest risk, including two First Nations seniors' facilities. 

As more shipments arrive in early January, immunization will focus on Phase 1 priority populations and will include residents of long-term care and designated supportive living facilities, followed by seniors aged 75 and over and First Nations on reserve, Inuit and on-settlement Metis individuals aged 65 and over. 

Phase 2 is still expected to start by April 2021 and will be targeted to the next groups of prioritized populations. Final decisions regarding eligibility in Phase 2 have not yet been determined. 

Phase 3 will involve rolling out vaccinations to the general Alberta population, and is anticipated to start later in 2021. 

Information provided by the Government of Alberta.