The Alberta Department of Health announced on Wednesday that 388 new COVID-19 cases have been identified in the province in the last 24 hours, with six of the new cases linked to the Omicron variant.
The new figures bring the province’s total of coronavirus infections linked to the Omicron variant to 17, while the total number of active COVID-19 cases in Alberta stood at 4,140 as of Wednesday afternoon.
According to the provincial government website, the positivity rate in Alberta is 3.65%.
Four other deaths were linked to COVID-19 in Alberta. On Wednesday afternoon, the Alberta Department of Health said the total number of people in the province who have died from coronavirus is now 3,272.
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As of Wednesday afternoon, 373 people were being treated in Alberta hospitals with COVID-19, of which 68 were in intensive care units. The ICU number was lower than a day earlier when 76 coronavirus patients were in intensive care.
AHS addresses misinformation about children and COVID-19 vaccinations
Alberta Health Services issued a series of tweets on Wednesday in response to misinformation that health authorities said revolved around COVID-19 vaccinations for children.
The health agency tweeted: “We are aware of misinformation that some children are being hospitalized at Alberta Children’s Hospital with adverse events following their COVID-19 vaccination. “Up to this point, AHS has not had any pediatric hospitalizations related to COVID-19 vaccination.
“Of the nearly seven million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine used in Alberta as of December 5, 2021, adverse events were reported from 2,036 people.”
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AHS also notes that as of November 26, 2021, nearly 60 million doses of the vaccine have been administered in Canada.
“Among them, serious adverse events were reported in 0.011% of all doses used across Canada,” AHS tweeted. “Vaccines safely protect individuals, including children, from getting sick or spreading the virus to family and friends.”
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