Albertans who want to continue to protect themselves from the COVID-19 virus will have to pay out of pocket for it, the province announced late Friday afternoon.
Since December 2020, the federal government had been looking after procuring and buying the vaccines, which the Public Health Agency of Canada said was unique to the COVID-19 pandemic compared to other routine immunization programs — which are paid for by provinces and territories.
This year, the COVID-19 vaccine procurement process shifted from a federal role to provincial and territorial procurement process ahead of the fall 2025 respiratory virus season, to align it with other how other immunizations are delivered for diseases that are endemic around the world, such as the flu.
As a result of the federal change, the Alberta government is passing the cost onto most Albertans who want to be immunized.
Health-care advocates slammed the province’s move.
“Public health decisions should be made based on the best medical evidence available, something sorely lacking in this vaccination strategy. Instead we have a government more interested in pandering to anti-vaccine rhetoric than they are in doing their job to protect the public and our health care system from preventable disease” said Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare.
“The fact this announcement was put out quietly, late on a Friday afternoon, shows a government who’s hoping the majority of Albertans don’t notice these policy changes and the new costs soon to be coming their way.”
The opposition NDP echoed the sentiment of the Friends of Medicare.
“It’s cruel for the UCP government to put further financial burdens on Albertans who want to protect their health and their loved ones and not get COVID,” said Sarah Hoffman, the NDP shadow minister of health.
““It’s dangerous, it’s callous, it’s anti-science, and it’s anti-public health.”
The vaccines will still be covered by the province for select groups of high-risk individuals such as seniors, people who live in congregate living, those with underlying medical conditions or are immunocompromised, and Albertans who require social support such as AISH or are homeless.
In addition to adding a fee, in most cases the COVID-19 vaccine will only be available through public health clinics and pharmacies will no longer be administering the vaccine.
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While the province said work is underway to determine what the final cost will be per vaccine, it noted the U.S. Center for Disease Control estimates a cost of $110 per vaccine dose.
“The cost to taxpayers for the COVID-19 vaccine should not exceed $49 million, much of which will be offset through cost recovery in phases 3 and 4,” the province said in its news release, explaining the COVID-19 vaccine program will be rolled out in four phases, beginning with the highest-risk groups and gradually expanding to include more Albertans over time.
Phase 1: Provincially-funded vaccines will be available free to residents of seniors supportive living accommodations and home care clients.
Phase 2: Provincially-funded COVID-19 vaccines will be available free for Albertans six months and older with underlying medical conditions or compromised immune systems, or in congregate living accommodations, and Albertans on social programs (i.e. AISH, income supports, and individuals experiencing homelessness).
Phase 3: COVID-19 vaccine will be available to all Albertans 65 years and older, who will be required to cover the full costs of the vaccine.
Phase 4: All other Albertans, who will be required to pay the full cost.
In making the announcement on Friday, the government pointed out the U.S. Federal Drug Administration in the United States — which is headed by longtime anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — recently stopped recommending routine COVID-19 vaccines for pregnant women and healthy children.
However, following that announcement, the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada said COVID-19 vaccination “remains safe and strongly recommended” during pregnancy and while breastfeeding.
In January, the UCP government released a controversial report that called on the province to halt the use of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The report was commissioned shortly after Premier Danielle Smith swept to power in late 2022, promising to redress the COVID-19 grievances of her supporters.
However, critics lambasted the report calling it a “a sad document — that lacks significant credibility.”
Instead of encouraging Albertans to be vaccinated, the UCP government advises people to talk to their doctor about “the best course for their needs.”
“If the government was serious about tackling vaccine waste they would get serious about public health, public education and promoting the benefits of a variety of vaccines,” said Gallaway.
Friends of Medicare said Alberta’s low vaccination rates have brought an increase in the prevalence of other avoidable infectious diseases like influenza and RSV.
“This year, Alberta has seen our highest influenza death rates since 2009 and we continue to set historic new records for measles cases in Alberta.”
As of Friday, there were 879 lab-confirmed measles cases in the province.
“We surpassed the 1985 peak of 843 cases of measles in the province with 868 cases. Think of that: the highest numbers seen in 50 years,” Alberta Medical Association president Dr. Shelley Duggan said in a memo on Friday to members.
“Immunization is the only way to prevent further unnecessary life-threatening illness and further instability for acute care.”
The province said starting Aug. 11, eligible Albertans will be able to signal their intent to receive the COVID-19 and influenza vaccines by pre-ordering through the Alberta Vaccine Booking System.
After that, they’ll get a text or email reminder to book their immunization appointment in early October.
When Albertans book their immunization appointment for fall/winter 2025-26, the province said they can also pre-order their vaccine for 2026-27.
The province said in the 2023-24 respiratory virus season, a total of just over one million COVID-19 vaccines — 54 per cent of Alberta’s order that year — went unused.
Now that the province is paying to procure vaccines, it said it’s important to better determine how many vaccines are needed to support efforts to minimize waste and control costs.
“Based on the Center for Disease Control costing estimates of $110 per vaccine dose, this means that about $135-million worth of vaccines were never used and were discarded,” the province’s news release said.
“If the UCP government was really interested in eliminating waste and protecting the health of Albertans it would be promoting vaccines,” Hoffman said in her statement.
“That way the supply would get used and we would keep ourselves and our loved ones safe.”
For the 2025-26 season, the Alberta government said about 485,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been ordered.
Estimated budget costs for the 2025-26 season are approximately $2 million for RSV and $19 million for influenza, Primary and Preventative Health Services (previously Alberta Health) said.
Alberta still covers the cost of almost all other routine immunizations such as the ones that protect against influenza, measles, mumps, rubella, polio, tetanus, chickenpox, pertussis (whooping cough), HPV and meningitis. It also covers RSV shots for seniors.
Albertans already pay out of pocket for some some vaccines such as those recommended for travel purposes, such as the Twinrix vaccine for hepatitis A and B, and the shingles (Shingrix) vaccine.