BANFF – About 70 per cent of residents in Banff and Lake Louise have had their first vaccine dose.
While Alberta Health Services indicates the 7,195 people with first jabs represents 52 per cent of the population, local officials estimate the vaccine rate is more likely in the 70 per cent range based on a more accurate population count.
Town of Banff officials say the vaccine rate for Banff National Park is great news; however, the number of people getting vaccinated daily is starting to drop off and they’re not sure why.
“The numbers have definitely started to slow,” said Alison Gerrits, a member of the Town of Banff’s emergency coordination centre who sits on the Bow Valley COVID-19 task force.
“We’ll be promoting as much as possible because there is vaccine availability still in the community and we want to make sure everyone gets their first dose.”
The province of Alberta last week released a new interactive map, which shows the percentage of individuals vaccinated with at least one dose, percentage of people fully immunized, and total number of doses that have been administered.
The Town of Banff is using a population for this region of just under 10,000 people based on municipal and federal census numbers, which typically are considered more accurate than the 13,600 number the province uses.
The Town of Banff notes 236 people in Banff-ID9 had their first dose on May 18, while there were 208 on May 19 and 356 on May 20. A further 351 received a dose on May 21, 152 on May 22 and 20 on May 23 followed by 11 on May 24.
As of May 24, 444 people have been fully vaccinated in this region – 90 per cent of seniors aged 75 and older have had two does, 70 per cent aged 60-74, four per cent of 40-59 and one per cent of 20-39 year olds are fully vaccinated.
“Overall, six per cent of those vaccinated in our region have been fully vaccinated as of (May 24),” Gerrits said.
Alberta Health Services last week wrapped up a series of vaccination clinics at the Fenlands recreation centre. An estimated 5,000 people had their shots at those clinics, which were introduced when Banff was a COVID-19 hotspot in April.
The provincial health units in both Banff and Canmore, Alpine Medical Clinic in Banff, Gourlay’s Pharmacy in Banff, Rexall in the Cascade Plaza, as well as seven pharmacies in Canmore continue to offer vaccinations.
Silvio Adamo, the director of emergency management for the Town of Banff, said the goal is to get everyone in the Bow Valley who wants to be vaccinated “so we can develop the herd immunity within our community.”
“Please encourage everyone you know to get vaccinated as soon as possible,” he said.
“We have a lot of opportunity for vaccination in this valley. There’s no need to drive to Calgary.”
Adamo said the Town is thankful for the great response by Alberta Health Services (AHS) during the region’s COVID-19 spike, which peaked at 164 cases on April 25, representing a per capita case rate of 1,200 per 100,000.
“We hope when the time comes for second doses that we can work with AHS again so we can facilitate more clinics in Banff for our locals,” he said.
For Canmore vaccination rates, the province’s interactive map includes the Municipal District of Bighorn and a large area to the southern tip of Kananaskis Country – so the numbers are not just those of Canmore residents. The map indicates 15,309 people (54.2 per cent) have had at least one dose and 2,343 (8.3 per cent) individuals are fully vaccinated.
As of May 25, approximately 2.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered Alberta-wide, with 49.2 percent of the population receiving at least one dose and 7.9 percent of the population fully vaccinated.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province’s chief medical officer of health, said she hopes to update Albertans on the timing of second doses soon.
“With more doses coming in, we are actively looking at more ways to reach key groups who may be having trouble accessing vaccine,” she said during her briefing on Tuesday (May 25).
“We are also looking at our current 16-week timing for second doses, and when we can begin to shorten that window based on incoming supply.”
As of May 25, there were 12,078 active COVID-19 cases in the province, including 387 new cases identified in the previous 24 hours. There are 565 people in hospital, which includes 158 people in intensive care.
There are five active cases in Banff, 12 active cases in Canmore and 48 throughout the MD of Bighorn, which includes Harvie Heights, Exshaw, Lac Des Arcs and Stoney Nakoda at Morley.
