UCP board urges Premier Danielle Smith to make COVID vaccine policy changes for children

The United Conservative Party's board is urging Premier Danielle Smith to reform COVID vaccine policy because the directors are worried about the safety of mRNA vaccines for kids, the party president says.

"We have serious concerns about them for children," Rob Smith, the UCP president, told CBC News in an interview Friday.

"I would say that the board of directors' position is that if parents are going to get their children vaccinated, they need to be very, very sure that they know what they're doing."

Asked what the change would look like in practice, Rob Smith said it would see AHS "doing a better job of sharing information about the vaccine that they are offering."

He wants AHS to disclose "the science behind the vaccine, and the potential repercussions," as well as the research and the testing methodology behind it.

He said the board has communicated its concerns to the premier, adding "we believe that there will be action coming from the government with respect to AHS's offerings of COVID vaccinations and the ages for which they're recommending."

The party president's comments come as a Calgary wing of the UCP prepares to host a gathering of medical speakers who claim COVID vaccines are dangerous and even deadly, hoping to use that event to help persuade UCP MLAs and Smith to ban mRNA COVID immunizations for children.

Health Minister Adriana LaGrange's office declined to answer questions about this event and the United Conservatives' advocacy for vaccine restrictions.

The town hall planned for June is hosted by the UCP riding association for Calgary-Lougheed, a southwest city district, along with its rookie MLA, Eric Bouchard. They are bringing in doctors and researchers from as far away as Texas and Ontario, including two whose medical colleges have sanctioned them for unprofessional conduct and for spreading falsehoods and misleading information about vaccines and COVID public health measures.

The goal of the event is to "persuade the UCP Alberta caucus to declare the moratorium on all COVID mRNA vaccines" for children in the province. That's a move that would set Alberta apart from the rest of Canada.

Currently, Alberta Health's COVID information website says vaccines, including those that use messenger RNA technology, are "safe, effective and save lives," while the World Health Organization recommends doses for children older than six months who are immunocompromised or have higher risk of severe COVID.

The organizers of the event "An Injection of Truth" take a dimmer view. Their advertisements allege the vaccines are likely contributing to an increase in deaths of Alberta minors. "Ask yourself, 'How can we help Albertans put a stop to COVID shots that kill children?'" the ticketing website states.

The president of the section of pediatrics for the Alberta Medical Association finds the claims "saddening" fringe views, informed by hearsay and innuendo.

Sam Wong said he has not read anything in official pediatrics or medical literature that supports views that mRNA vaccines are untested or dangerous for children.