‘Putting up more and more barriers’: Health-care union calls for Alberta to halt plan to limit free vaccines

Health groups urge Alberta to keep covering all COVID-19 vaccines as province plans to limit funding. CTV’s Nicole Weisberg reports.

Two of Alberta’s health-care workers’ unions are calling on Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s government to reverse its policy forcing many -- including front-line medical staff -- to pay for a COVID-19 vaccination.

Smith has said the aim of the new policy, announced last week, is to prevent wastage after some $135 million was spent on unused doses.

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Smith said her government is focused on protecting those who need it the most by giving them the COVID-19 shot for free. That includes those with compromised immune systems, those on social programs and seniors in a congregate setting.

However, most Albertans, including health-care workers who don’t fall into a high-risk category, and seniors who live independently, will have to pay out of pocket.

“We believe in vaccine choice, but we don’t pay for everything,” the premier said last week.

United Nurses of Alberta president Heather Smith called it a dangerous and outrageous decision, and warned it will drive even more health-care workers from the province.

“The government’s claim that this is being done to save money and recover costs makes no sense from a moral or logical perspective,” Smith said in a statement.

She added it will put thousands of Albertans seeking health care at risk when they are most vulnerable, along with endangering thousands of their caregivers.

“It is absolutely irresponsible to force health-care workers in both public and private workplaces to place orders in August and pay to receive a vaccine that is an essential component of workplace health and safety,” said Smith, whose union represents more than 35,000 nurses and allied workers.

The province’s policy shift comes after the federal government put provinces in charge of buying COVID-19 shots this year.

The nurses union was joined by the Health Sciences Association of Alberta, representing 30,000 health-care workers, in calling on the government to continue providing free COVID-19 vaccines this fall.

“That is how we protect patients, reduce hospitalizations, and keep our health system strong,” said union vice-president Leanne Alfaro.

Alfaro said COVID-19 continues to put vulnerable Albertans at risk and vaccines remain the most effective tool for protecting individuals and the broader health system, including staff.

“They should not be expected to put themselves in harm’s way without basic protection,” she said in a statement.

Smith’s United Conservative Party government has said it hasn’t been determined how much Albertans would pay, but it has estimated the cost to procure each shot is $110.

Routine influenza vaccines will continue to be publicly covered.

Local pharmacies will no longer be given a supply of COVID-19 shots, which will only be available through public health clinics through a phased delivery in the fall. The government has said the new approach will make sure it’s better able to determine what it needs to order in coming years.

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.

Just under 14 per cent of Alberta’s 4.8 million residents were vaccinated for the virus last season.

Public health-care experts say the province’s new COVID-19 policy will create more barriers to getting vaccinated and also lead to higher costs as more people develop severe complications.

Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommends that all adults 65 years of age or older and health-care workers get the shot.

Opposition NDP health critic Sarah Hoffman said Monday that Primary and Preventative Health Minister Adriana Lagrange is responsible for weakening the province’s public vaccine campaign in the first place, and her government’s goal is to appease anti-vaccination fringe groups.

“This reduced uptake and wastage was a direct result of undermining (LaGrange’s) own department’s efforts to promote vaccines,” said Hoffman.

She said Smith is saddling Albertans with extra fees and inching the province closer to American-style health care.

Dr. Luanne Metz said she and other NDP MLAs are hearing from Albertans who are concerned it will force seniors on limited incomes to pay more, which will result in some skipping their medications.

“They’re really putting up more and more barriers for people and for health-care workers to be able to get the vaccines, which means that we will have more disease, more sick people, (and) more people dying,” Metz said.

Also Monday, the Canadian Public Health Association echoed the call for Alberta to reverse course. It noted the exclusion of pharmacies will limit access for rural residents, shift workers, and others who rely on community-based case.

The non-profit organization said over-ordering and poor forecasting should not be used to justify introducing barriers to care.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 16, 2025.

Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press