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Tag: Alberta

Topic: AlbertaView all posts for the topic: Alberta

Alberta doctors call for regular access to vaccines in children’s hospitals to combat low immunization rates

Published November 17, 2025

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Published by: CBC News
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By Jennifer Lee

Some Alberta pediatricians say making childhood immunizations routinely available in pediatric hospitals could help improve slumping vaccination rates in the province.

But the Alberta government is closing the door on that idea, saying children’s hospitals are under significant pressure, and it’s taking other steps to improve access.

Dr. Sam Wong, president of the section of pediatrics with the Alberta Medical Association, said he and his colleagues have been advocating for this change for several years.

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Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles

Canada officially loses its measles elimination status

Published November 10, 2025

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Published by: The Globe and Mail
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By Alanna Smith, Kristy Kirkup

Canada has been stripped of its measles elimination status after failing to interrupt transmission within one year of an outbreak that continues to spread in parts of the country.

The Public Health Agency of Canada said Monday it was notified by The Pan American Health Organization, a regional arm of the World Health Organization, that Canada lost its designation – an accomplishment it held for 27 years.

“While transmission has slowed recently, the outbreak has persisted for over 12 months, primarily within under-vaccinated communities,” the statement said.

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Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles

Canada loses its measles elimination status

Published November 10, 2025

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Published by: Radio-Canada
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By Mélanie Meloche-Holubowski

The Pan American Health Organization has informed the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) that Canada no longer has the status of a country that has eliminated measles, due to an outbreak that has been ongoing for more than one year.

This status indicates that there is no continuous transmission of the disease for 12 months or more in a given geographical area.

“Despite considerable efforts by Canada, the country has lost its status. Measles is now considered to be endemic in this country,” PAHO director Dr. Jason Barbosa told a news conference.

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Topic: AlbertaView all posts for the topic: Alberta

CUPE Alberta launches online campaign against province’s COVID-19 vaccine fee

Published November 7, 2025

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Published by: CTV News
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By Stephen Hunt

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Alberta has launched an online campaign against the province’s $100 fee for Albertans who want to get a COVID-19 vaccination.

A new website calls on the province to “axe the vax tax.”

The website calls the fee unfair, reckless and dangerous, and allows Albertans to write a letter to Premier Danielle Smith, Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi and their local MLAs protesting the province’s decision to charge Albertans $100 for a COVID vaccine this year.

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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

Women are three times more likely than men to get severe long COVID: Here’s why

Published November 7, 2025

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Published by: Folio - University of Alberta
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By Gillian Rutherford

Research published today in Cell Reports Medicine reveals key biological differences that may explain why women with long COVID — especially those who develop chronic fatigue syndrome — tend to experience more severe and persistent symptoms than men do.

Post COVID-19 condition, or long COVID, is diagnosed when neurological, respiratory or gastrointestinal symptoms develop or continue three months or more after an acute SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The likelihood of developing long COVID is three times higher for women than men, but until now the underlying biological mechanisms driving this disparity have remained unknown.

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Topic: AlbertaView all posts for the topic: Alberta

Pharmacists decry ‘hurdles’ facing Albertans who want a COVID vaccine

Published November 4, 2025

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Published by: Global News
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By Ken MacGillivray, Skylar Peters

Changes to the Alberta government’s COVID vaccination plan this year mean many Albertans are facing long waitlists and a hefty bill to get their shot.

With the government-run program only offered through public health clinics and many of those clinics experiencing long waits, some Albertans are choosing instead to go to their local pharmacist to get immunized — as they have done in previous years.

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Topic: AlbertaView all posts for the topic: Alberta

Alberta doctors say province’s attempt to save on COVID shots could cost more

Published October 22, 2025

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Published by: The Canadian Press
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By Lisa Johnson

EDMONTON – Alberta doctors say the province’s effort to save money on COVID-19 vaccines could end up costing taxpayers far more in public health-care costs.

Dr. Brian Wirzba, head of the Alberta Medical Association, which represents doctors in the province, says there’s still time for the government to improve public communication about vaccines and make them more accessible.

“In my clinic talking to patients, they’re still confused about how they could even get it,” said Wirzba, who practises internal medicine in Edmonton.

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Topic: AlbertaView all posts for the topic: Alberta

Some Albertans frustrated, Health Link overwhelmed as COVID-19 shots roll out to general public

Published October 20, 2025

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Published by: CBC News
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By Jennifer Lee

Some Albertans struggled to book COVID-19 shots as the province’s fall immunization campaign opened to the general public on Monday.

By late afternoon, Health Link had been flooded with more than 10,000 calls related to the COVID vaccine alone and a spokesperson for Primary Care Alberta confirmed the provincial health information phone line was facing extremely high call volumes.

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Topic: ManitobaView all posts for the topic: Manitoba

Manitoba offers COVID-19 shots for free as some provinces begin charging residents

Published September 22, 2025

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Published by: CBC News
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Manitoba will continue covering the cost of COVID-19 shots as some other provinces begin charging residents.

The vaccinations are free for anyone six months and up and will remain that way in Manitoba, according to the province.

“There are no plans to change Manitoba’s policy at this time,” reads a statement from a Manitoba government spokesperson.

The news comes as Alberta and Quebec recently announced they would stop offering COVID-19 shots for free to the general public.

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Topic: AlbertaView all posts for the topic: Alberta

Alberta polio survivors fear ‘horrifying’ virus could return

Published September 2, 2025

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Published by: Global News
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By Quinn Ohler

Polio, a highly contagious viral infection that can cause paralysis and death, has been eradicated in Canada for decades thanks to widespread vaccination efforts.

There is no cure for polio; it can only be prevented, and doctors warn if vaccine rates continue to decline as they have in recent years, it could open the door to a return of the virus in Canada.

“It’s ridiculous,” said Pat Murray, a polio survivor who contracted the disease at just nine months old.

“It’s heartbreaking.”

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Topic: AlbertaView all posts for the topic: Alberta

Albertans can get COVID-19 vaccinations for free in B.C.

Published August 21, 2025

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Published by: CBC News
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By Michelle Bellefontaine

Albertans who don’t qualify for free COVID-19 vaccinations in their home province can get one in British Columbia.

B.C.’s Ministry of Health confirmed that detail in response to a query from CBC News. Canadian residents can get vaccinated due to a reciprocal agreement between all provinces and territories.

“Any publicly funded immunization in B.C. can be provided at no cost to any Canadian travelling within the province,” a statement from the ministry said. “This includes providing publicly funded COVID-19 vaccine to people of Alberta.”

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Topic: AlbertaView all posts for the topic: Alberta

Alberta expands COVID-19 shots coverage for health workers, but calls grow for wider access

Published August 20, 2025

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Published by: CTV News
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By Mark Villani

Calls are growing louder in Alberta for the COVID-19 vaccine to be covered free of charge for all residents, following the province’s decision Tuesday to partially reverse its vaccine policy and expand coverage to some health-care workers.

While the move has been welcomed by workers and unions, public health experts and critics say it doesn’t go far enough, leaving many Albertans uncertain about access to the vaccine.

“The government has now taken a step towards admitting that they had the wrong approach,” said Chris Galloway, executive director at Friends of Medicare.

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Topic: AlbertaView all posts for the topic: Alberta

Alberta government to cover COVID-19 shots for health-care workers in policy reversal

Published August 19, 2025

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Published by: The Canadian Press
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By Lisa Johnson

EDMONTON – In a partial policy reversal, Alberta’s government said Tuesday it will cover the cost of COVID-19 vaccinations for health-care workers.

Maddison McKee, spokesperson to Primary and Preventative Health Services Minister Adriana LaGrange, said in an email that COVID-19 vaccine coverage will be extended to all health-care workers this fall under the first phase of the province’s vaccination rollout.

“Immunization will remain voluntary,” said McKee.

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Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles

Canada likely to lose measles elimination status as outbreak continues: expert

Published August 6, 2025

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Published by: CTV News
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By Pauline Chan

Canada is at risk of losing its measles elimination status as an outbreak that started in New Brunswick last year continues to grow.

Measles has been considered eliminated in Canada since 1998, and the country saw an average of 91 cases annually before October 2024, when the outbreak began. The designation means that, within a certain geographical region, there has been no sustained measles transmission over 12 consecutive months.

Since then, of the 4,394 measles infections nationwide, Health Canada data shows that most individuals were exposed to the virus domestically (94 per cent) and were not vaccinated (88 per cent).

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Topic: AlbertaView all posts for the topic: Alberta

Alberta’s Perverse New Barriers to COVID Vaccines

Published August 5, 2025

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Published by: The Tyee
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By Andrew Nikiforuk

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s radical new rules for COVID immunization pose a genuine threat to the elderly, the working poor and pregnant moms.

Smith, who revived her ailing political career by peddling conspiratorial COVID theories, has designed a program that is not only punitive but discriminatory, bureaucratic and Soviet in nature.

“This policy is so bad that it’s actually worse than their usual failure to plan properly,” said James Talbot, the province’s former chief medical officer of health. “In fact, it is so bad it looks like they are actually planning to fail.”

Here are the three basic tenets of any successful public health program: make it available, make it accessible and make it affordable. Smith turns all three upside down.

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Topic: AlbertaView all posts for the topic: Alberta

Alberta wastewater unlocked key information about COVID-19. Could it help with measles too?

Published July 16, 2025

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Published by: CBC News
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By Jennifer Lee

As Alberta’s measles outbreaks grow, researchers are now watching the province’s wastewater for the highly contagious virus and hoping to determine if the technology could eventually serve as an early detection tool.

The magnitude of Alberta’s outbreaks and the speed at which cases are climbing has sparked widespread concern. As of midday Tuesday, 1,323 cases had been confirmed since the outbreaks began in March.

Piggybacking off weekly wastewater samples, collected through the provincial COVID-19 surveillance program, the team has designed a test that can identify both the wild type measles virus (indicating actual infection) and vaccine-related shedding in the wastewater.

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Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles

Alberta’s measles outbreaks surpass case counts reported for entire U.S.

Published July 14, 2025

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Published by: CBC News
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By Jennifer Lee

Alberta has now confirmed more measles cases than the entire United States has reported this year.

The province has been battling outbreaks since March and as of noon Monday, total case counts in the province had ballooned to 1,314.

The latest update from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that country has amassed 1,288 cases this year.

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Topic: vaccinesView all posts for the topic: vaccines

How does Alberta’s new COVID-19 vaccine policy compare to other provinces? We asked

Published June 30, 2025

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Published by: CBC News
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By Jennifer Lee

Alberta’s decision to reduce access to publicly funded COVID-19 vaccines so far appears to set the province on a different course than many other Canadian jurisdictions.

Most Albertans will no longer be eligible for a free COVID-19 shot this fall.

The provincial government recently announced plans to limit coverage to specific high-risk groups, including Albertans living in care homes and group settings, those receiving home care, people on social programs such as AISH, and immunocompromised individuals.

All other seniors, pregnant Albertans and health care workers are not included, despite strong recommendations by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) that they should be vaccinated. NACI also recommends that everyone else may receive an annual dose.

Continue readingHow does Alberta’s new COVID-19 vaccine policy compare to other provinces? We asked
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