The number of Albertans who received COVID-19 vaccines during this winter’s immunization campaign is about half the number vaccinated in the province during the same period last season.

“Given the government’s approach to vaccination, it’s not at all surprising that we’re seeing a decline in vaccinations,” said Chris Garraway, executive director of Friends of Medicare, an Alberta public health advocacy group. Press “Progress”.

“Everything they’ve done with this year’s vaccine rollout has been aimed at reducing uptake.”

According to the prefecture’s vaccination schedule dashboardApproximately 480,000 COVID-19 vaccinations were conducted between October 2024 and January 2025.

This season, which ran from October 2025 to January 2026, when about 230,000 COVID-19 vaccines were administered, that number has been cut in half.

This comes after Alberta’s United Conservative government made it significantly harder for residents to get vaccinated against the pandemic virus this season.

Alberta Vaccine Dashboard/Alberta.ca

Changes include $100 “Management cost” On the front lines in public health clinics for most Albertans. If you receive your vaccination at a pharmacy rather than a designated health care provider, some pharmacies may charge additional fees.

Initially, Daniel Smith’s UCP government I also wanted a medical worker. To pay for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine. The only people eligible for the exemption are seniors living in assisted living and those with compromised immune systems.

They reversed this decision for some workers in August. nurse and medical worker” During negotiations, the union insisted on free, voluntary vaccination for its members.

Still, Garraway said the data shows that COVID-19 vaccines are currently too expensive and inaccessible to most people in states with documented hesitancy issues. epicenter of measles outbreak in canada So last year we lost measles-free status and the respiratory disease season began. overwhelming hospital Like never before.

“What we’ve heard over the past few months is extreme frustration from Albertans who tried to use the booking system to get the vaccine and who were told if they wanted to get the vaccine they had to pay,” Galloway said.

” [booking] The online system was confusing, didn’t always work, was difficult to use, and I wasn’t sure when or where I could get a reservation. [and] There were probably weeks when nothing was available. ”

Anecdotally, Garraway said his organization has heard from Albertans who left the province to get vaccinated on trips to places like B.C., the United States and Mexico. Vaccination rates in British Columbia were higher than in other countries. National average In 2024, COVID-19 vaccines are explicitly free for all Canadians traveling to Canada.

Octoberfederal Health Minister Marjorie Michel said the federal government will not intervene to help people in Alberta and Quebec – the only other provinces to introduce fees or other access barriers – get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Garraway said neither the provincial nor federal governments will address another major oversight in Alberta’s restrictions on free access to COVID-19 vaccines.

“Alberta’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout is… [Indigenous people] “Free vaccinations are only available if you are vaccinated in your home community, so if you are an Indigenous person living in Edmonton, you will not have access to free vaccination clinics,” Galloway said.

“We wrote to both the federal minister and the state minister and said, ‘You’re violating people’s treaty rights. We need to resolve this.'” Both men pointed to problems with the other. ”

The UCP’s rationale for imposing fees and other barriers to accessing COVID-19 vaccines was that they would reduce the number of “wasted” vaccinations and would cost $135 million from 2023 to 2024.

Party MLA and Premier Daniel Smith also said: squirt and tout She has continued her anti-vaccination rhetoric since winning the UCP leadership race. 2022.

There are now countless large, peer-reviewed studies showing that COVID-19 vaccines save lives.

The latest global JAMA network studyconservative estimates found that between 2020 and 2024, COVID-19 vaccines averted 2.5 million deaths and extended lifespans for people over 60.

on the other hand, Latest Canadian data available A study from June 2021 to January 2022 showed that people who were not vaccinated against COVID-19 were much more likely to be hospitalized or die from the virus.

Source: Public Health Agency of Canada report

In Quebec, the vaccine costs between $150 and $180 for most people, excluding health-care workers, the elderly and other high-risk groups, but the government also cited the high cost of wasted vaccine doses over the past few years as the rationale.

There are hospitals there, as well as in Alberta. overwhelmed By the beginning of the respiratory disease season, new measles outbreak As of Thursday, nine cases were confirmed and active.

So far, 1.1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered across the province since this season’s vaccination campaign began on October 6, according to Santé Québec, the Crown corporation that coordinates the province’s health system. This number is down from 1.4 million at the same time last season and 1.6 million the year before.

“This is the first campaign with stricter eligibility criteria,” a Santé Québec spokesperson said in an emailed statement. Press progress.

“While it is not possible to distinguish between those administered through Quebec’s immunization program and those administered privately, we can say that the majority of the latter were administered free of charge.” This quote has been translated from French for clarity.

Neither Alberta’s Ministry of Primary and Preventive Health Services nor the Premier’s Office responded. press progress We repeatedly requested comments in time for publication.

“Our government is anti-science and caters to a very niche right-wing group that thinks the premier needs to keep them happy, not what’s best for Albertans and our health-care system,” Garraway said.