Murray Wood: Who's hot and who's not
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EDMONTON — Alberta’s government announced Friday residents who are not immunocompromised or on social programs will soon have to pay to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
In a late afternoon news release, the government said that since provinces took over responsibility for procuring the shots from federal authorities in April, it has wanted to cut down on waste and recoup costs.
It said an estimated one million COVID-19 vaccine doses, or just over half of Alberta’s supply, were not used during the 2023-2024 respiratory virus season. It said $135 million worth of shots were wasted.
“Now that Alberta’s government is responsible for procuring vaccines, it’s important to better determine how many vaccines are needed to support efforts to minimize waste and control costs,” the province said.
“This new approach will ensure Alberta’s government is able to better determine its overall COVID-19 vaccine needs in the coming years, preventing significant waste.”
The government said it hasn’t been determined how much Albertans would pay, but an estimated cost to procure each shot is $110.
It has ordered just under 500,000 of the vaccines for the fall, or about one-third of what was ordered last season, at an estimated cost of $49 million.
Some of that cost would be covered through taxpayers paying for their shots, the province said.
Primary and Preventative Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said in the statement that Alberta is also changing how the vaccines are doled out across the province, and local pharmacies would no longer be given a supply.
Instead, Albertans will need to receive their COVID-19 shots at public health clinics.
Those who want the vaccine are asked to “signal their intent” in August, with bookings to begin in October.
Alberta is also reintroducing phased vaccine delivery, with first doses this fall to be given to seniors in supportive living homes, followed by those who are immunocompromised and on social programs.
The next phase of doses are to be reserved for those over 65, with the last phase open to everyone else.
LaGrange said the phased-approach and payment system would ensure “we remain fiscally responsible while continuing to protect those at highest risk.”
University of Calgary health law professor Lorian Hardcastle said there are a “number of concerns” with the government’s decision to charge for the vaccine, with one major consequence being that fewer people will get vaccinated.
As a result, she said she expects hospitalizations and doctors visits to increase, which would actively work against the government’s stated goal of cutting costs and reducing waste.
“When we look at preventative measures like vaccinations, often there is a good business case for providing those publicly,” she said.
“If you avoid a few people having ICU stays as a result of contracting COVID or developing very severe COVID, that’s a lot of vaccines that ICU stay will pay for.”
Hardcastle said the move is another in a long list of decisions made by Premier Danielle Smith’s government that send the wrong message when it comes to vaccines, noting Smith said at her first press conference as premier in 2022 that she thought unvaccinated people were the “most discriminated group” she’s seen in her lifetime.
“If you compare last cold and flu season, the messaging from our government around flu shots, COVID shots, it was a lot weaker than what we saw from other places,” Hardcastle said.
She also pointed to Alberta’s growing measles outbreak — which this week surpassed its highest case total in nearly 40 years — and how when cases started rising the government “for many days was rather silent on that issue and wasn’t encouraging people to go out and get vaccinated.”
“I worry that this is going to further push that message that I think this government has both actively and passively pushed, which is that vaccinations just aren’t that important,” she said.
Hardcastle also said Alberta’s the only province that has publicly announced it planned to charge for the COVID vaccine.
LaGrange’s office said in a statement emailed late Friday night that vaccine orders are based on factors that include uptake, wastage and the number of Albertans likely to be at risk for severe outcomes.
“This includes following national guidance that no longer recommends routine COVID-19 vaccination for healthy, non-senior adults — due to lower risk of severe illness and strong population-level immunity,” the statement said.
It said no changes to other immunization programs, including for influenza or RSV, are currently being considered.
LaGrange’s office did not answer questions about why the province was ordering fewer COVID vaccines than were administered last year, or if health-care workers will need to pay out of pocket as well.
Opposition NDP health critic Sarah Hoffman said it’s cruel to charge Albertans for a COVID-19 vaccine, piling further financial burden on those who want to protect their health and their loved ones.
“It’s dangerous, it’s callous, it’s anti-science and it’s anti-public health,” Hoffman said in a statement.
She added that if the United Conservative Party government wanted to eliminate waste and protect Albertans’ health, it would better promote vaccines.
In the 2024-25 respiratory season, about 700,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered. The vast majority were dispensed at pharmacies.
Provincial data says since last August, 368 people have died as a result of contracting COVID-19. Alberta’s respiratory dashboard says two people are currently in hospital with the illness.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 13, 2025.
— With files from Lisa Johnson and Aaron Sousa in Edmonton
Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press
