Alberta nearing the end of supply for Covishield/AstraZeneca vaccines

Alberta Health Services(AHS) is reporting they're nearing the maximum number of bookings it can handle for its current supply of the Covishield/AstraZeneca vaccine. The province was initially given58,500 doses ofthe vaccine.

Albertansborn in 1957 through 1961, and First Nations, Mtis and Inuit people born in 1972 through 1976 are eligible for Covishield/AstraZeneca.

Albertans can book online or by calling 811 until 4 p.m. Sunday. After that, the remaining appointments for that vaccine can only be booked through 811.

Alberta is supposed to get more supply of this vaccine "this spring," according to a news release, but it is not clear exactly when.

The AHSonline booking tool for theCovishield/AstraZenecavaccine also had some issues Saturday morning. According to a tweet from the AHS account, they experienced a network issue, causing the launch to be delayed.

The phone lines were also experiencing problems. AHS tweeted again at around 9:30 Saturday morning to say the tool was back online.

COVID-19 by the numbers

Alberta reported474 new cases over the last 24 hours. Thepositivity rate for the past week is sitting at 4.8 per cent, and five new deaths were also reported, according to Alberta's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw.

Currently, there are4,594 active cases in the province. Two hundred and fifty-four people are in hospital, with 35 in ICU.

For vaccine doses, 346,135have been given out thus far.

The regional breakdown of active cases was:

• Calgary zone:1,695
• Edmonton zone:1,147
• North zone:791
• Central zone:451
• South zone:499
• Unknown: 11