Kenney Says Alberta's Ready To Roll Out COVID-19 Vaccines ASAP But They Won't Be Mandatory
On Wednesday, November 2, Jason Kenney unexpectedly addressed Albertans instead of Dr. Deena Hinshaw and spoke about COVID-19 vaccines in Alberta.
Kenney began immediately by jumping into the current COVID-19 numbers in the province.
He said that there are 17,144 cases in Alberta and announced 1,685 new ones. There are currently over 500 people in the hospital with COVID-19, 97 of whom are in intensive care.
After the harrowing numbers, he dove in to talk about the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines.
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Jason Kenney
"While we cannot control when these vaccines arrive in Alberta, we can make sure that when we get them, we are ready to roll them out as soon as we can," said the premier.
With that, he announced a new task force specially focused on the distribution of vaccines in the province. He said the task force will be led by municipal affairs deputy Paul Wynnyk.
Kenney said that while "smooth and rapid" distribution will be key for the province's economic recovery, it is also a matter of life and death.
He said he'll be getting the vaccine himself and urged others to do so, but he said it will absolutely not be made mandatory.
“We don’t live in a country where the government can inject you with something against your will," said Kenney.