Mayor Peter Brown has nothing but gratitude in his heart as the province becomes the first in Canada to remove most of the remaining public health orders on July 1st.  

Brown said he's grateful to the province for its efforts in making vaccinating Albertans such a priority and getting to the 70 per cent mark needed for the final phase of its Open for Summer Plan.  But he's even more grateful to Airdronians of all ages and stages of life, no matter what they do, who have persevered through more than a year of the pandemic.

"Many, many people have been challenged significantly with these last 17 months.  I'm just thrilled to see it here and finally get back to some sense of normalcy again and I hope that everything goes according to the Premier's plan and we remain healthy and safe."

With the provincial lifting of restrictions, many Airdronians have asked if the mask bylaw in the city will also come to an end or if the city will decide to keep it in effect for a while longer. Both Calgary and Edmonton have indicated decisions on their mask bylaws are still forthcoming.  Calgary council plans to talk about repealing its bylaw by the end of July this week.  

Brown said that since Airdrie's bylaw has mirrored provincial guidelines, once the province removes the restrictions that remain, Airdronians will once again be allowed to show their faces, if they desire.

"So our bylaw is set up so that it will follow the provincial guidelines, so July 1st is the day, and July 1st is the day that the mask bylaw is no longer in effect."

Airdrie is just slightly behind the province in the percentage of people who've received their first shot of vaccine or else have been fully immunized from COVID-19.  Alberta has stuck a needle into the arms of just over 70 per cent of people 12 and over while Airdrie has 68 per cent of its population done. 

Brown encourages Airdrie residents to keep being vaccinated.

"There are many more pharmacies and doctor's offices in the community and you just have to ask.  You know I encourage everyone in the community to get vaccinated and the sooner we all get there the sooner we can all get back to normalcy again."

On Tuesday morning, the Town and Country Centre confirmed to Discover Airdrie that, unfortunately, they are fully booked for vaccines.

Mayor Brown had previously said that the T & C would offer doses to those without an appointment if there is no lineup.

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