Alberta reports 3,218 new COVID-19 cases as hospitalizations near 1,500

Alberta reported 3,218 new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, while the number of active infections in the province decreased by 3,442 from the previous day to 44,301.

There are 1,469 people in hospital with COVID-19, an increase of 51 since Wednesday’s count of 1,418. This includes 106 in intensive care, a decrease of three since the previous day.

Of those in hospital, 21.65% have had three doses of vaccine, 43.29% have had two doses, and 5.17% have had one dose. Unvaccinated individuals make up 29.88% of COVID-19 hospitalizations.

Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, noted in a Twitter thread last week that it’s important to remember that the number of vaccinated people in Alberta is many times higher than the number of the unvaccinated.

Dr. Hinshaw said that, with the exponential spread of Omicron, more people are getting sick than at any other point in the pandemic and it is not surprising to see an increase in hospitalizations, even in people who have been partially or fully immunized.

With the exponential spread of Omicron, more people are getting sick than at any other point in the pandemic so it is not surprising to see an increase of hospitalizations, even in some who have been partially or fully immunized.(5/8)

— Dr. Deena Hinshaw (@CMOH_Alberta) January 21, 2022

Over the past 24 hours, 13 new deaths caused by the virus were reported. This raises Alberta’s COVID-19 death toll to 3,518.

Including today’s new cases, there have been a total of 484,400 confirmed COVID-19 infections in Alberta over the course of the pandemic, and 436,581 have since recovered.

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A total of 8,238,242 doses of vaccine have been administered in the province as of January 26. Of Alberta’s eligible population, 89.7% over the age of 12 have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 86% have had two shots.

There have also been 172,914 children aged five to 11 who have received at least one dose of pediatric vaccine.