No vaccines for most community medical clinics, Alberta government decides

The Alberta government is permanently cutting off the flow of publicly funded vaccines to community medical clinics, save a select few, sparking yet another wave of concern from health-care providers.

As CBC News previously reported, shipments of publicly funded vaccines to community medical clinics were halted in April when a distribution contract expired. 

A replacement was never hired and, as a result, family physicians did not receive COVID-19 and flu vaccines for the fall immunization campaign.

Clinics have been unable to access a number of other publicly funded vaccines for months, including the shot that protects against pertussis (whooping cough).

After months of uncertainty punctuated by messaging that the disruption was temporary, the Alberta government now tells CBC News it is ending the wider distribution program, which was launched in 2021 in an effort to increase access.

"As we continue to move past the pandemic, we have re-evaluated and have determined that we will return to distributing provincially funded vaccines to the select community medical clinics that previously administered vaccines," a statement from the health minister's office said.

"To ensure we limit vaccine waste as much as possible while maintaining access, we will focus on serving the most vulnerable populations, those in rural [and] remote locations, and on clinics administering the highest volume of vaccines."

Moving forward, the province plans to distribute influenza, pneumococcal and Tdap shots (which protect against pertussis, tetanus and diphtheria) to between 20 and 25 community medical clinics.

Before distribution was halted in the spring, between 500 and 600 community medical clinics were administering publicly funded vaccines, a government document shows.

"This response falls far short of what we need to see.… We need all community medical clinics to be able to administer appropriate vaccinations to their patients," said Dr. Mareli Powell, a family physician working in Fox Creek and Edmonton.

According to Powell, a variety of clinics will be affected, including family doctors' offices offering flu shots, those that perform stitches and administer tetanus shots at the same time and maternity clinics that offer vaccines as part of prenatal care.

"It's not acceptable that this service cannot be provided through medical clinics anymore," said Powell, past-president of the North Zone Medical Staff Association.

"If we take that about 300,000 patients get their vaccinations through medical clinics, it will impact our vaccination rates.This will put further strain on our acute care system once the flu season is in full swing."

 Alberta's flu vaccine uptake last year was the lowest it's been in a decade, at 24 per cent.