OTTAWA — Alberta’s Health Minister Adriana LaGrange says she’s not worried about national reaction to the province’s new policy of making most residents pay out-of-pocket for COVID shots.
In fact, she expects other jurisdictions to eventually follow in Alberta’s footsteps, after Ottawa made provinces and territories responsible for
buying their own vaccines
earlier this year.
“I know that other provinces are looking at what Alberta’s doing because we’ve all seen wastage,” LaGrange told the National Post in an interview on Monday.
LaGrange said the current norm of free COVID shots for anybody who wants one is unsustainable.
“I don’t see how the federal government, or any other province … can justify continuing that type of approach when there are so many demands on our health-care system and so many places where that money can go,” said LaGrange.
She added that she expects COVID vaccines to be a topic of conversation when she welcomes her fellow health ministers’ to Alberta in October for the next scheduled federal-provincial-territorial meeting.
LaGrange said that more than 400,000 doses, valued at around $44 million,
went unused or expired
across the province last year.
“That $44 million goes a long way: it could mean 100 new doctors, 500 registered nurses or 3,000 more hip replacements,” said LaGrange.
The Public Health Agency of Canada
wrote down $1.2 billion
for expired COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics in 2023-24, according to an annual report from the Department of Finance.
The
National Advisory Committee on Immunization
(NACI) said in guidelines published earlier that continued universal vaccine coverage for healthy non-seniors was “unlikely to be cost effective using common thresholds.”
NACI still recommended that full coverage be maintained for all adults 65 years of age and older, as well as the immunocompromised and other at-risk groups.
LaGrange wouldn’t say why the province isn’t following NACI’s recommendations to the letter but stressed that more than 85 per cent of Albertans over 65 will be eligible for a free COVID shot under Alberta’s new rules.
This group will include
seniors living in care homes, those in at-home care and those receiving low-income benefits.
Select high-risk non-seniors, including those living in group homes and experiencing homelessness, will also qualify for free shots under the new rules,
first announced in June
.
The province
added health care workers
to this list last week, after pushback from labour groups.
The rest of Alberta’s 4.8 million residents will start paying $100 per dose in mid-October.
The Alberta Medical Association said it is concerned about the move.
“Immunization is a cornerstone of public health and access should not be limited by cost or logistics,” said Shelley Duggan, the president of the AMA,
in a statement
.
“The Alberta government’s decision to offer free COVID vaccines to health care workers is a welcome step (but) (o)ur province’s immunization strategy still diverges from national recommendations and there are major concerns around pre-ordering, eliminating pharmacies from distribution and potential charges for most Albertans including those prioritized by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI).”
Edmonton NDP MLA Heather McPherson criticized the decision on Monday and called on federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel to take action.
“I urge you and your government to engage Alberta directly to push for universal no-cost access to COVID-19 vaccines, including for all children under 12,” McPherson wrote in an open letter to Michel
posted to social media
.
McPherson’s office didn’t immediately respond to a question from the National Post about whether she thinks Ottawa should restore federal funding for COVID shots.
Two provinces, British Columbia and Manitoba, have already said that they will provide free COVID shots to visiting Albertans.
Michel’s office told the National Post it wouldn’t be commenting on the matter.
“
As you know, vaccines delivery is a provincial responsibility,” wrote Michel’s spokesperson Guillaume Bertrand in an email on Tuesday morning.
National Post
rmohamed@postmedia.com
Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.
