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<\/p>\nIn a partial policy reversal, Alberta’s government said Tuesday it will cover the cost of COVID-19 vaccinations for health-care workers.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“Immunization will remain voluntary,” said McKee.<\/p>\n
It comes two months after the government said most Albertans, including health workers, would have to pay for COVID-19 shots this season.<\/p>\n
Public health experts and health-care unions called it irresponsible to force front-line workers to pay for protection in the workplace.<\/p>\n
‘We had to raise our voices’<\/p>\n
Mike Parker, president of Health Sciences Association of Alberta, said the government promised the union its members would have their vaccines covered during a recent round of collective bargaining.<\/p>\n
Parker said, however, that the promise is not\u00a0in the actual collective agreement and\u00a0the HSAA would like it to be.<\/p>\n
“We had to raise our voices a lot on this one and we’re glad to see that it has come forward today,” he said.<\/p>\n
“There are plenty of pieces of equipment that you need to keep you safe in a job \u2014\u00a0any job, whatever that looks like. Having access to these vaccines is part of that conversation.”<\/p>\n
WATCH | What to know when booking your COVID-19 shot this fall:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Albertans can now book their COVID-19 vaccines for the fall, but it comes with a cost<\/p>\n
The way Albertans can receive the COVID-19 vaccine has now changed.
\nFor some, it will soon come with a cost. The provincial government launched a new vaccination policy to reduce waste. But critics say making Albertans pay for vaccinations puts everyone at risk. <\/p>\n
David Harrigan, director of labour relations with the United Nurses of Alberta, said the policy is “an incredible relief.”<\/p>\n
“I think a lot of people expect there’s going to be another surge of COVID coming in the fall,” he\u00a0said. “Putting up barriers for particularly health-care workers that are working with the compromised patients, we thought was very unrealistic.”<\/p>\n
He said the\u00a0UNA is hoping the vaccine coverage will apply to all members, including those working in long-term care, however, this has not yet been confirmed.<\/p>\n
Premier Danielle Smith has said the aim of the new vaccine policy is to prevent wastage, after some $135 million was spent on unused doses.<\/p>\n
The government hasn’t finalized how much other Albertans\u00a0will need to pay, but an estimated cost to buy each shot is $110.<\/p>\n
The province said in June those who have compromised immune systems, people on social programs and seniors in congregate settings will be covered.<\/p>\n
Last week, the government opened online pre-ordering for the COVID-19 vaccine alongside flu shots. Albertans still need to book appointments for the shots, starting in October.<\/p>\n
Those who don’t pre-order by a Sept. 30 deadline can still book an appointment once doses become available.<\/p>\n
Details still being finalized\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, the specifics of the qualifying health conditions for a free shot have not been released.<\/p>\n
LaGrange’s office has said details of the plan are still being finalized \u2014\u00a0including the updated vaccination schedule, eligible conditions, exact locations and administrative fee for COVID-19 vaccines.<\/p>\n
Alberta Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi called on the United Conservative Party government to give the shot to all seniors at no cost.<\/p>\n
“They continue to make this up as they go along. Albertans\u00a0deserve better than this incompetence and confusion,” he said in a statement Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The province said it has ordered 485,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine for the fall \u2014\u00a0about 250,000 fewer doses than were administered last year.<\/p>\n
Ottawa\u00a0changes COVID-19 vaccine policy<\/p>\n
The federal government put provinces in charge of buying COVID-19 shots this year, but Alberta’s COVID-19 policy makes it an outlier.<\/p>\n
The province has said local pharmacies will no longer get a supply of COVID-19 shots, which will only be available through public health clinics through a phased delivery.<\/p>\n
The government has said the new approach would help it better know what to order in coming years.<\/p>\n
Public health-care experts have also said the province’s COVID-19 strategy will create more barriers to getting vaccinated and also lead to higher health-care system costs, as more people develop severe complications.<\/p>\n
Critics have also said excluding pharmacies from the rollout\u00a0will limit access for rural residents, shift workers and others who rely on community-based care. Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommends that all adults 65 or older and health-care workers get the shot.<\/p>\n
Routine influenza vaccines continue to be publicly covered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a partial policy reversal, Alberta’s government said Tuesday it will cover the cost of COVID-19 vaccinations for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85546,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,84,392],"class_list":["post-85545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}