Some more good news on the vaccine front in Alberta.

Premier Jason Kenney says the Moderna vaccine will arrive Wednesday.

"Today 16,900 doses of Moderna vaccine will arrive in Alberta and will immediately begin immunizing residents at Long Term Care and designated supportive living facilities," he says. "The first shipment will arrive at facilities in Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Grande Prairie, St. Paul and Fort Saskatchewan."

The premier says it's good news for staff residents and families at these facilities who've been on the front lines of the battle with COVID-19 since the spring and who've suffered extensively.

Because the Moderna vaccine can be stored at relatively moderate temperatures it can be taken to these centres rather than having the patients come to the hospital.

Premier Kenney says Alberta should have close to 7,000 people vaccinated by Wednesday, far below what had been expected by the end of this year.

Ontario has come under fire for taking a break from vaccinations at Christmas, something Alberta also did.

AHS say they'll take another break on New Year's Day but Kenney would like to see Alberta go 24/7.

"Our direction to AHS is to treat the administration of the vaccines as an emergency,every day that we waste is ultimately going to represent lives lost," he says.

He says because the province rely's on partnerships with community organizations there aren't enough staff to continue on New Year's Day but he hopes this is the last break that's taken until the vaccination program is complete.
.
Locally, the latest numbers from the Province show 41 active cases in Foothills County, 54 in Okotoks and 25 in High River.

There are also 27 active cases in the MD of Willow Creek with 13 in Vulcan County.

Provincially there are now 14,785 active cases with 879 new cases announced Tuesday.

With close to 11,000 tests that's a positivity rate of 7.7 per cent.

There are 890 people in hospital with 153 in the Intensive Care Units.

Another 26 people have died bringing the total to 1,028.

Send us your news tips, story ideas and comments at news@okotoksonline.com