On Friday, Alberta Premiere Jason Kenney announced a partnership with Montana to distribute the neighboring state's excess vaccinations to truckers crossing the Canadian border, CTV News reports.
"I want to close by thanking the truckers who have driven thousands of kilometres and work day in and day out to ensure that our communities have the food, medicine and vital goods throughout the pandemic of the past year," said Kenney. Truckers will receive the Johnson and Johnson single dose shot at a rest area near Conrad in Montana.
The program mimics a similar agreement signed between Manitoba, Saskatchewan and North Dakota, which is expected to vaccinate around 2,000 truckers crossing the border.
Vaccination eligibility was also expanded across the province, with all Albertan 30 and older now able to get the shot as of Thursday, and anyone over the age of 12 in Alberta qualifying on Monday.
Compared to any other Canadian province or US state, Alberta currently has more active cases per capita as the province faces the third wave of COVID-19.
With this announcement from Kenney's United Conservative government, another 100,000 eligible residents registered for their vaccination Thursday, and an estimated 3.8 million of Alberta's 4.4 million residents will be eligible next week.