Alberta Premier Jason Kenney announced on Friday, June 18 the province met its final milestone to trigger Stage 3 of the Open for Summer plan with over 70 per cent of eligible Albertans having received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Ongoing public health measures and COVID-19 restrictions, including the ban on indoor social gatherings and the indoor provincial mask mandate, will be lifted beginning on Thursday, July 1.
“Since this spring, I’ve been saying Albertans should expect a great Alberta summer-maybe even the best summer ever, given all we’ve been through over the past 16 grueling months,” Premier Kenney said during the update on Friday. “I never doubted Albertans. I never doubted that we would reach this milestone together.”
Across the province, the number of active COVID cases, hospitalizations, and ICU admissions have continued to decline since the peak of the third wave earlier this year; as of Sunday, June 20 there were a total of 2,127 active cases across the province, with 214 people in hospital and 53 in ICU.
Premier Kenney previously announced the province would open a vaccine lottery, open to Albertans 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose, with three $1 million cash prizes and additional prizes from Calgary Stampede, WestJet, and Air Canada.
The deadline to enter for the July draw is open until Thursday, June 24; additional draws will be held in August and September.
As of Monday, June 21 there are zero active cases in the Town of Drumheller and Starland County, two active cases in Wheatland County, and four active cases in Kneehill County.
In the Starland County-Drumheller region, 64.1 per cent of residents aged 12 and older have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 20.9 per cent are fully vaccinated with two doses.
