How is it possible Alberta’s Health Department “has not been successful in contracting a distributor to ship vaccines to community medical and nurse practitioner clinics,” as a memorandum leaked to the CBC informed family doctors and nurse practitioners?
“As a result, a vendor for vaccine distribution will not be in place by October 15 for the start of the influenza and COVID vaccine program,” said the memo, although the CBC did not appear to quote it in full or provide a copy.
According to the CBC’s story, “the distribution problem impacts a number of publicly funded vaccines,” also including the whooping cough, tetanus, and diphtheria vaccine.
The Alberta Medical Association expressed serious concern that, as a result, many patients who might get a shot from their family doctor, won’t be bothered or able to get to a pharmacy or public health clinic, where Alberta Health (not to be confused with Alberta Health Services) has advised them to go.
On the face of it, this makes no sense.
How can there have been no expression of interest by distributors, as the CBC reported Alberta Health claimed in the memo? For that matter, why does the health department’s attitude to this development appear to be so ho hum? And why, for heaven’s sake, was the contract with the previous distributor allowed to expire?
This explanation – such as it is – doesn’t pass the sniff test.
A health department spokesperson told the CBC, “We are actively exploring options to distribute vaccines from our provincial depot to community medical clinics.”
But when reporter Jennifer Lee asked the former distribution company about what was going on, the president of the health care logistics corporation told a different story. “Our contract was not renewed,” said Dean Berg of Accuristix. “But we’d be pleased to help AHS with the physician distribution and hope to hear from them.”
Meanwhile, in other provinces, the fall respiratory vaccination program for influenza and COVID-19, both killers of the vulnerable elderly in particular, proceeds apace.
Given the MAGA conspiracy based attitudes about vaccines held by Premier Danielle Smith and many members of her United Conservative Party cabinet and caucus, the circumstances described by Ms. Lee have raised hackles and suspicions.
“Good lord,” said Jon Meddings, former dean of the Cummings School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. “How far does the incompetence go? AB health has not figured out a way to distribute vaccines to FM offices since April? Is there nothing this government won’t do to make family practice difficult?”
“Alberta’s anti-vax UCP government won’t be distributing COVID and flu vaccines to family doctors this fall,” said Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan on X, asking: “Incompetence or outright sabotage?”
“I think the case for outright sabotage is strong,” Mr. McGowan added in another tweet. “Zero expressions of interest tells me the government didn’t put a serious offer on the table.”
Well, that’s one explanation. Another might be that the government has a favoured distributor, and negotiations are either ongoing, or the distributor would prefer the vaccines didn’t go to family doctors for some reason.
It’s very hard to reach a conclusion, other than that a serious problem has developed for reasons that don’t make sense. So it’s presumably about time for Health Minister Adrianna LaGrange to step up to the microphone and give us her usual confusing word salad.
In the meantime, deaths from COVID in Alberta jumped to 44 last week from 23 the week before. “We’re in another wave,” said Calgary physician Joe Vipond, who has been tracking and making accurate predictions about the disease since the start of the pandemic.
Again, so far at least the UCP Government doesn’t appear to be particularly engaged – understandable, perhaps, when there are more important issues like chemtrails, federal truth-in-advertising laws, and the potential for a negative leadership review for the premier at the party’s Nov. 1 and 2 AGM in Red Deer.
Or perhaps they’re just recalling former UCP premier Jason Kenney’s calming words about COVID in the Legislature back in 2020. “The average age of death from COVID in Alberta is 83, and I’ll remind the House that the average life expectancy in the province is 82,” he said cheerfully.
So if you’re much over 80 in Alberta, you should still just be grateful that you’ve lived this long, I guess.
Meanwhile, Shoppers Drug Mart has been sending out text messages to clients reading, “Beat the rush, book your flu shot now for appointments starting on October 15.”
Earlier this month, the Edmonton-based Progress Report described in a scoop how since 2021, AHS management has been pressuring “health-care professionals at two downtown Edmonton mental health clinics to transfer their patients’ prescriptions to Shoppers Drug Mart.”
A source provided the publication with an April 9, 2021, memo to employees at the 108th St. clinic that said Shoppers had been “contracted by AHS as the primary pharmacy services provider” for the clinic, the publication reported.
no one can be that stupid they can’t figure out how to get vaccines from point a to point b, especially if its in the same province, decent roads and no war going on. If Smith and her crew can’t figure it out, it truly is time to move along and I’m sure any group of high school students can figure it out.
wanting a specific company to benefit, sounds about right. Smith needs to understand people aren’t going to buy her b.s. a certain number of deaths are to be expected, during flu season, but if there are no vaccines, well there will be a lot of dead people and that includes children. Well at least the death industry will be making money. Smith and her bunch of “can’t find a trucking” company may find themselves in a big hole if too many people die. You know some people are attached to their children and grandparents. there will be more over crowding in hospitals which will cause other medical procedures to be delayed. Its hard to believe smith and her crew are that stupid, but well it is Smith and her crew and they do seem to lack a certain amount of intelligence.
When people vote for a change, they might want to give it some thought because some times change can lead to the deaths of families and friends.
Yes, many can be that stupid. The scary thing is that they are in our government.
First of all, the UCP approach to public health care seems to be, if its not broken, break it. I suppose all the better to justify handing it over to religious organizations and private companies.
Second, a big part of the UCP base and perhaps Smith herself seem to have a conspiracy theory or denial view of vaccines.
So they will do whatever it takes to sabotage vaccine delivery to the detriment of Albertans concerned about their health. And obviously, you are 83 or older, it is definitely not in your interest to support these kooks.
When family medical services are at a premium, I don’t see farming out a task that can be provided by pharmacists as a bad thing. We should be looking for other opportunities to move services from our family doctors to others qualified to perform them.
What you’re forgetting is that it doesn’t have to be this way and that Smith and cronies are causing the shortage of doctors and all the problems with health care delivery. That we have to ‘fall back on’ Shoppers Drug Mart, is the shocking result of her efforts to ease us into a privately run health care system where profits are the motive, not taking care of our health. Are you ready for when she starts yammering on again about you and I have savings accounts so that we can pay for our own health care? Because that will be her next effort (and I’m sure she’ll expect to keep the funds that the federal government pays out for health care transfers. She’s going to want to figure out how to pay for the posse that she’s having wet dreams about whenever she thinks about an Alberta Police Force)
This bunch in edmonton make my skin crawl.
There are two reasons for the Smith government’s incompetence/sabotage:
1. They are pandering to their low-information base who don’t believe in Covid or vaccines and don’t have a problem with some people dying because of their ignorance.
2. They haven’t found a way to fill their pockets with vaccine distribution.
I’m glad to hear that the public service are still receiving the shots
These people are nutjobs, to a man, and woman. They are all out there, somewhere. Some more wingy than others but the whole lot are obsessed with their juvenile grade-school understanding of things.
Seriously, they may be dressed in adult clothing but they are all children when it comes to understanding the world we live in today, when it comes to thinking things through, you know, logic or when it comes to performing any task involving anything more than a demand for more.
It’s embarrassing and dispiriting that conservatives everywhere, of all stripes, are all so immature and incompetent, yet so high in popular opinion. They all deserve a spanking and to be sent to their rooms for a time out.
Ain’t gonna happen though.
We are in for some very tough times.
When you have an ignorant, selfish and greedy electorate, this is the government you get. Good job Albertans!
I saw the CBC story yesterday; these paragraphs from the story are what really stood out for me:
“CBC News reached out to Accuristix, the company that had been contracted to distribute the vaccines. In an email, the company said Alberta Health elected not to renew its contract.
“Our contract was not renewed, but we’d be pleased to help AHS with the physician distribution and hope to hear from them,” said Dean Berg, president of the health-care logistics company.
A spokesperson for Alberta Health said the contract was not renewed because its term had expired.”
The contract was not renewed because the term had expired? The term of the license plate on my car recently expired; is that a justification for me not to renew my license plate? That explanation just does not make sense, and like David suggests leaves people wondering just what is going on. There could possibly be a perfectly acceptable explanation, but really anything involving vaccines and our current government leaves people suspicious.
The pharmacies I frequent have their vaccine websites ready, but are not taking appointments for Covid vaccination at this time. One is booking flu shots and the other is not. They’ve been burned before when vaccines did not arrive on time, and don’t seem eager to have their staff spend hours cancelling appointments and taking heat from angry customers for the poor vaccine distribution program.
Some of us remember the big boycott of Loblaws companies way back in 2024 and won’t be going there. No thanks, even if they do appear to be the only place with a secure supply of vaccines and available appointments. I’ll take a pass. Perhaps a trip south of the border for Novavax, stopping at Coutts just to make a point? Maybe on October 17, for some reason? Now I’m game for that!
When you elect clowns, expect a circus.
Batshit is an anti-vaxxer, anti-masker, anti-environment Premier. Frankly, she’s anti many things who has a penchant for outlandish conspiracy theories like chemtrails etc.
bottom line is: She doesn’t want anyone to get vaccines in Alberta. It’s only a matter of time until we have to travel out of province to get them or pay out of pocket to get them at private clinics owned by UCP-affiliated cronies.
By now the UCP should know better to mess with Covid vaccines. There are a lot of Covid lunatics out there, people who’ve gotten 9 or 10 shots of the thing, booster after booster and it’s still not enough. They are passion believers in “The Science” because the science has them believing it’s vastly superior to the human immune system. We are constantly under siege from unseen enemies ad our health and wellbeing depends on the science and it’s never ending supply of cures.
What possible difference does it make to you if someone else gets a vaccine ???
I think you’re a little confused. We aren’t interested in letting our immune systems do the work ON THEIR OWN but prefer to PRE-ARM said immune system. The alternative might be a case of covid so severe that we end up in ICU with an extended case of long-covid or maybe we end up in a box with family weeping at graveside.
A study done by Yale University, that compared voter roles in two states to covid deaths found that the majority of dead were Republicans. Do you need someone to explain WHY that happened?
This is a remarkable series of declarations. Remarkably both alarming and hilarious.
Thank you for blowing the few shreds of cover which remained to you.
Well at least you’re saying the quiet part out loud now and coming out as full anti-vax. Did you ever stop to think that if the human immune system is so great we wouldn’t require “The Science” to overcome medical issues and disease? Or that “The Science”, including vaccines, has been responsible for boosting life expectancy to nearly 83 years from below 65 circa pre-WWII? C’mon Ron, you come off as one of those nutbars that would let your own child die just to satisfy your own faith instead of going to the hospital. Next time you go to a public space to declare others as lunatics without any logical explanation perhaps you should take a long look in the mirror, pal.
I believe Dr. RonMac is referring to me when he speaks of COVID Lunatics of which I consider the term an honour. I am due for my 8th COVID-19 vaccine soon and will be getting my annual Influenza vaccine at the same time, 2 for 1! It’s also been about sixty years right around this time of year when I received my first vaccine for Smallpox and Polio yet I still survive. Being that I have family in St. Albert and Calgary, I’m thinking about going to see my daughter and son in law in who have relocated from Winnipeg to Calgary before the snow sticks in the Rocky Mountains. If you are in the Calgary area Dr. RonMac, we could meet up and I could put you through the paces of my workout at a local gym. It’s an open invite.
Mr. P: Speaking for myself, I’m getting close to 73, I’m almost due for my 9th COVID vaccination, and I’m still kicking – literally, at karate this evening. DJC
Mr. Climenhaga, this is far past “sniff test”. We’re in road killed skunk territory now. I understand that this blog is all about holding the Alberta government’s feet to the fire, so dramatization is de rigeur; however, this story tells itself.
This vaccine disribution inaction is egregious on the part of the government. I already have an covid anti-vax child, but at least his partner gets my grandchildren vaccinations. Now I have to worry about that too.
So what to do? I already voted NDP in the provincial election, and bought a NDP membership so I could vote for Mr. Nenshi.
Looks like time to hold my nose and buy a clown party membership so I can vote against dipshit Danielle at their AGM.
Gerald, I dashed off an email on her govt website reminding her that she promised to fix AHS and noting that this failure happened on HER watch and is now her responsibility. I also respectfully suggested that she do something about it urgently and immediately, after rejecting the words “blood on your hands”. It will not do any good, but at least I took action. FYI – I bought UCP memberships to vote against both Kenney and Smith. Now I am worried about what monstrous excuse for a human being could follow Smith as Premier if she is tossed to the curb
I love that you emailed her office and reminded her of her promises and obligations. I’ve become so fed up and demoralized that I’d kind of given up on sending emails and letters but you’ve inspired me once again so I’m definitely going to be giving her a piece of my mind too. Maybe I’ll make that part of my daily schedule because there always seems to be a new incredibly bad decision that requires that a letter be fired off!
This is beyond bizarre. Complete incompetence by this government, or if these are efforts to sabotage timely and important vaccine programs, it is criminal.
For many years Communicable Disease Nurse Specialists from Alberta Health fine- tuned mass vaccination programs and events to be held every fall. The intention was to vaccinate as many people as possible, before the seasonal run of respiratory viruses and, as per all preventative public health initiatives, to prevent illness and death among the population. All of this is delegated by the Chief Medical Officer of Health whose duty it is to protect the Alberta public. So, as we keep asking, what exactly is he doing?
This is a very strange story, that vaccine supplies that come from Health Canada are not going to physician’s offices? But yet, pharmacies are getting them? Is it because if doctors give shots in their offices they bill AHCIC for an office visit, and Smith has made a deal with Shopper’s Drug Mart to divert those funds? I have no idea. I’m just “musing”, like Danielle.
Alberta’s immunization rates are already in the toilet, which should make Smith’s UCP
Neanderthals happy, and when the hospitals that are already swamped get more overwhelmed and the oldies are kicking the bucket left, right, and centre- they should be over the moon!
Where is the sense in all this? The accountability? Most of all, where is the humanity?
Yet another entry for the “what fresh Hell is this” catalogue. It’s one thing to oppose mandatory vaccination, even in the midst of a global pandemic, or for routine childhood diseases prior to school entry; I don’t happen to agree with that position, but at least it’s defensible. Bit it’s quite another thing to erect unnecessary barriers to voluntary vaccination for those that need or want to be immunized.
Now, vaccines do have very specific and strict storage requirements, and not all private-practice physicians have the required special temperature-controlled and -monitored fridges in their clinics. I for one have always gone to an AHS Public Health Centre for immunizations not offered in workplace clinics, because I am confident that they take the necessary care to maintain “cold chain” – except recently when I had to access the Shingles vaccine from a private pharmacy because AHS Public Health has been banned from offering any immunizations not covered by the government – this also includes travel immunizations that were once offered by Public Health under a “fee for service” model, but are no more.
While I’m on the subject of AHS Public Health, this is an area where there has been no discussion about where that portfolio fits into the four “pillars” of the new health system structure they announced last year and whose first manifestation, Recover Alberta, formally came into being on September 1st of this year. The other “pillars” are Seniors’ Care – meaning Home Care and facility-based Continuing Care – Primary Care, and Acute-Care, ostensibly to be retained under AHS.
But where does Public Health fit into this new paradigm? No idea.
You said “It’s one thing to oppose mandatory vaccination, even in the midst of a global pandemic, or for routine childhood diseases prior to school entry; I don’t happen to agree with that position, but at least it’s defensible.”
On what planet are these “defensible positions”?
What I said was, I don’t agree with them, but there are valid arguments to be made, at least with respect to mandatory immunization. Remember, outside the context of a global public health emergency, “mandatory” is a strong word, and there are valid civil liberties arguments against making immunization mandatory. It depends on your perspectives on actions forced on individuals for the greater good.
I happen to believe that some interference in individual personal liberties is necessary for communal living in a civilized society, but not everyone shares that view. I’m just acknowledging that these different perspectives exist, in order to better understand their positions.
When you mix religion and politics, as the UCP are doing (what could be more sacred than the religion of private business?) the mix can be unstable. Besides, those physicians are, well, “uppity.” What do they know anyway? Tar and Ivermectin are good for you.
Funny enough, I was at my local animal pharmacy over the weekend and behind the counter they seemed to be very will stocked with Ivermectin. Coincidence?
It’s not dissimilar here in Ontario, where Doug Ford has made it difficult to get COVID rapid tests and has cancelled funding for wastewater monitoring. Hey, if you can’t see it, I guess it doesn’t exist.
How about the ucp is true to its’ name: the useless clowns party. Don’t want to offend TBA but 44 people died of covid in Alberta last week.My whole family has endured it twice affecting our short termand ling term health. Normal, ordinary Albertans want choice in vaccine care. Hire a frickin truck lady and get er done.
Well, this is it.
TBA has declared Alberta to be vaxx-free. It’s no longer a matter of choice. If you live in Alberta, you are antiVaxx by default. Want to be vaccinated? Travel to Ontario or Quebec, because Alberta’s gone insane.
Of course Queen Danielle and her UCP cohort can get vaccines, thanks to their valet doctors.
I have a wild idea….
The government are bald-faced shameless liars, and a commanding majority of the electorate eats it up with a spoon and lines up for more.
There is a new acronym that is appropriate for this situation: FUCP, or Friends of the UCP.
If the government issues a contract, there is lots of info subject to FOIP. But if there is no tender process and no real contract in the legal sense, then there’s nothing to disclose. The govt waits and waits until there is an urgent need and then, lo and behold, a FUCP steps up to address the need.
Who owns Shoppers and is there a FUCP among senior management? Just asking.
So the UCP can sit and wait
The case for sabotage is very strong. The most appallingly apparent evidence is that the UCP government has always behaved as if it didn’t care if it gets re-elected of not (it very nearly didn’t a year-and-a-half ago, no credit to itself). There’s nothing new here—except maybe the cosplay get-ups: Honest folks, it’s not like we’re trying to frustrate public vaccination, ideologically on purpose, it’s that we just don’t know how to do it—see [tweaking their lapels] the Keystone Cop uniforms? Cool, huh!
It’s just this kind of incomparable incompetence incontinence that lends credence to the possibility that, at the command of its Take-Back-Alberta faction, the UCP intends to solve its little psephological problem by repelling complainers (comprised of every citizen who did not vote UCP—and I dare say not a few who did) clean outta the province so’s to win re-election by default, no matter how faulty the strategy.
Secession is an evidently more plausible intent. Like, psephological gormlessness, feigned or genuine, might make sense if preparatory to a referendum. Get ready for the Peewee Herman rejoinder, just in case.
Ladies and Gentlemen, dear readers:
Never assign to incompetence that action which is the child of malice and stupidity. Queen Dannielle is, and has proven to be stupid, now she continues her reign as Malice in Blunder Land. Safe bet I won’t be visiting Alberta anytime soon.
Clearly sabotage. These UCP/TBA morons don’t want Albertans to even have a choice whether they want to be vaccinated. And you know what? They’ll get re-elected with a bigger majority than last time around. As they say in the old country: “only the dumbest cows elect their own butchers!”
Actually they lost 20 seats last election I believe. Won many more within 100 votes. Their “majority” is tenuous.
The UCP just doesn’t care about who gets harmed from their foolish mistakes. Very pathetic leadership, which it actually isn’t leadership.
The WHO can manage a polio vaccination program in Gaza, under the current conditions, but the UCP can’t handle the task of getting vaccines to Albertans.
I’m bummed that they also dropped the ball on the third Vax (Novavax). Besides being a non MRNA Vax it’s as effective and much more stable in transport and storage.
They did nothing to promote it to the MRNA hesitant vax people as an alternative. They also let down people with auto immune diseases like me who had bad auto immune flare-ups after the other two options. I was so excited to have the Novavax shot last spring with no problems at all after. They could have bought a limited supply from India for us auto immune issues folks to have an option. It sucks.
Another case of criminal neglect involving tax payer provided medical services being denied on the grounds of delusional crackpots(AKA UCP) . Enough is enough we need federal intervention to give these people the heave ho.
Husband got Covid. 70 yrs. Instead of list of signs look at person systematically he was going into respiratory distress v quickly able to handle on med unit in isolation for 10 days. However dr wanted him moved to palliative or comfort goals of care from M1. But I disagreed. He made it out without the fallout of pneumonia. Because I and friends went into the room and helped with nursing care including getting him up Told he was unable to get up without a physio assessment and staff LPN RN HCW unable to get him up new rules So we got him up walking with his own walker around his room in circles If stay in bed increase chance of leg clot and therfore pulmonary embolism goals of care important to get done by GP. He just has Parkinson’s but can walk mumble hear laugh so worth it to him to not be in C zone or palliative yet
My right to stay alive is constantly being challenged in this province by Take Back Alberta and it’s control on this out of control “so called” government. The freedom to stay alive should trump other freedom rights.
Here are some facts:
No government transparency; No family doctors, but you will soon get a nurse; limited vaccinations available; wearing a mask is frowned upon, even in the hospital; ER is a 9 hr wait in the summer; no advertising about the dangers of Covid because Covid is a bad word, so let’s call it the flu. My friends have died from COVID.