No vaccines for most community medical clinics, Alberta government decides – CBC

Province to limit publicly funded vaccines to 2 dozen community clinics

Nov 06, 2024

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.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/no-vaccines-community-medical-clinics-alberta-1.7374274