Only 400 rapid kits sent to the Hat
BY MEDICINE HAT NEWS ON DECEMBER 18, 2021.
A man leaves the Alberta Health Services community health centre on Dunmore Road at 8:45 a.m. having been informed all 400 rapid antigen test kits at the facility had been given out to the public.--News Photo Collin Gallant
https://www.medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews
Rapid COVID tests offered by the province went rapidly out the door of the Dunmore Road community health centre on Friday morning as distribution of the antigen tests was opened across the province.
Officials stated that 400 of the kits, each containing five rapid tests, were claimed on a first-come-first-serve basis on the first day, though more are expected next week.
By 8:30 a.m. Friday a sandwich board at the building stated supply of the self-test kits had run out.
Alberta Health Services confirmed via social media by 9 a.m. that volumes had run out in Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Coaldale and Pincher Creek.
Albertans can claim one kit per household within a 14-day period when they present an Alberta Health card.
AHS directed all questions to the provincial health ministry, including an inquiry into the apparently small number (400) allotted to Medicine Hat, a city of 68,000 people in about 27,000 households.
Alberta Health officials told the News that the South zone of health (comprising all areas south of but not including Calgary) was given 4,000 kits for distribution on Friday, deliveries are dependent on weather, and having tests available at each distribution point was a priority.
“We have worked hard to make sure supply is distributed throughout the province for Albertans,” read the statement. “However, as there are initially only 500,000 kits available in total, we can expect demand will exceed supply. Locations and communities will inevitably go through their supply.
“This is why we continue to work with the federal government to secure additional rapid test kit supply as quickly as possible.”
Brooks-Medicine Hat MLA Michaela Frey, along with several other government MLAs and ministry press officials, stated on social media they would like to see the federal health authorities approve more kinds of tests to ease supply issues.
A further 50,000 kits from the provincial stockpile were being shipped on Friday, according to Alberta Health, to locations across Alberta.
The kits are available at some select pharmacies in Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer, and at AHS facilities in other locations.
In the southeast, those include community health centres in Bow Island, Brooks, Taber, Vauxhall, Oyen and Milk River.
In Saskatchewan, a take-home test distribution program that began earlier this month allows residents to pick up test kits at health facilities, municipal buildings, chambers of commerce and through a partnership with regional Co-ops.
In the southwest of that province, tests are available at four locations in Maple Creek, as well as single locations at Burstall, Leader, Sceptre, Consul, Eastend, Shaunavon, Thompkins and Gull Lake.
https://www.medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews
Rapid COVID tests offered by the province went rapidly out the door of the Dunmore Road community health centre on Friday morning as distribution of the antigen tests was opened across the province.
Officials stated that 400 of the kits, each containing five rapid tests, were claimed on a first-come-first-serve basis on the first day, though more are expected next week.
By 8:30 a.m. Friday a sandwich board at the building stated supply of the self-test kits had run out.
Alberta Health Services confirmed via social media by 9 a.m. that volumes had run out in Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Coaldale and Pincher Creek.
Albertans can claim one kit per household within a 14-day period when they present an Alberta Health card.
AHS directed all questions to the provincial health ministry, including an inquiry into the apparently small number (400) allotted to Medicine Hat, a city of 68,000 people in about 27,000 households.
Alberta Health officials told the News that the South zone of health (comprising all areas south of but not including Calgary) was given 4,000 kits for distribution on Friday, deliveries are dependent on weather, and having tests available at each distribution point was a priority.
“We have worked hard to make sure supply is distributed throughout the province for Albertans,” read the statement. “However, as there are initially only 500,000 kits available in total, we can expect demand will exceed supply. Locations and communities will inevitably go through their supply.
“This is why we continue to work with the federal government to secure additional rapid test kit supply as quickly as possible.”
Brooks-Medicine Hat MLA Michaela Frey, along with several other government MLAs and ministry press officials, stated on social media they would like to see the federal health authorities approve more kinds of tests to ease supply issues.
A further 50,000 kits from the provincial stockpile were being shipped on Friday, according to Alberta Health, to locations across Alberta.
The kits are available at some select pharmacies in Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer, and at AHS facilities in other locations.
In the southeast, those include community health centres in Bow Island, Brooks, Taber, Vauxhall, Oyen and Milk River.
In Saskatchewan, a take-home test distribution program that began earlier this month allows residents to pick up test kits at health facilities, municipal buildings, chambers of commerce and through a partnership with regional Co-ops.
In the southwest of that province, tests are available at four locations in Maple Creek, as well as single locations at Burstall, Leader, Sceptre, Consul, Eastend, Shaunavon, Thompkins and Gull Lake.
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