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File photo of Premier Jason Kenney in Lethbridge. (Lethbridge News Now)

Kenney tells radio host that lockdown would punish people already vaccinated

Sep 27, 2021 | 10:21 AM

EDMONTON, AB – Premier Jason Kenney rejected calls for a “hard lockdown” during an appearance on a radio program Sunday, the same day that his province’s former top doctor signed a letter calling for immediate “fire break” measures to deal with surging cases of COVID-19.

Kenney told radio host Roy Green that a lockdown would make “no sense for the 80 per cent of the population that is vaccinated,” and who he said are much less likely to transmit the disease and are far less likely to be hospitalized. Further, he said the roughly 20 per cent who aren’t vaccinated and are behind the surge in cases are less likely to follow public health measures.

Alberta’s former chief medical officer of health, Dr. James Talbot, and critical care specialist Dr. Noel Gibney, signed an open letter Sunday to the province’s new health minister, Jason Copping, calling on the minister to take action to “prevent more disease, deaths, and suffering.”

They called for measures that include the transfer of ICU patients to other provinces now in order to relieve pressure on hospitals and delay the need for triage protocols.