Alberta snowbirds immunized outside Canada can now register to count towards the province's vaccine totals
It’s taken months, but an Airdrie couple says their COVID-19 immunizations have finally been recognized by provincial officials, bringing Alberta that much closer to life as normal.
It's something snowbirds have been pushing for as Alberta inches towards vaccination benchmarks tied to its three-step reopening plan.
Ernie Messner is one of those Albertans who has been fully immunized since February, but doesn't yet count towards the province's total because he received his shots in Arizona.
"That's part of our frustration with this is that we know we're counted into the not vaccinated part, but we are fully vaccinated," Messner said.
"I'm sure there are thousands of Albertans that came back from the United States and had their shots and were not counted."
Messner and his wife received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine in the U.S. and came back to Alberta in April. They said they've been asking their MLA and other health officials why they hadn't counted towards the province's goal of having 70 per cent of its eligible population vaccinated to reach stage three of its reopening plan.
"The faster we get there, the faster we get back to normal," he said.
However, provincial officials say the Messner’s problem is short-lived.
"Anyone who has been immunized outside of the province can drop off a copy of their records at an AHS public health clinic to have those records entered into our system and count to the provincial total," reads a statement from Alberta Health.
Though Alberta now has a process to count those people, most other provinces do not.
"A lot of the provinces don't have their processes and procedures fully in place yet to record vaccines that were administered outside of the province or outside of the country," said Stephen Fine with snowbirdadvisor.ca.
Fine's website has been updating its guidelines for returning snowbirds for every province. Counting towards the totals for reopening is the main concern for snowbirds right now, but Fine said there are two other implications down the road.
"There's a possibility of vaccine passports being introduced in the future and they're going to need their records recorded or reflected somewhere publicly and they could have issues with vaccine passports in the future," Fine said.
"The third issue is booster shots. We don't know if and when we're going to require booster shots for COVID vaccines, but if we do, there could be issues if their previous shots were not recorded."
Alberta Health said the amount of people immunized out of the province is expected to have minimal impact on provincial vaccine totals. Work is also underway on an automated process to track Albertans who were vaccinated in another health authority.
Tracking vaccine totals is up to individual provinces and the Public Health Agency of Canada said it did not have an estimate for how many Canadians have received their shots out of the country.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Iran fires air defence batteries in provinces as explosions heard near Isfahan
Iran fired air defence batteries early Friday morning as explosions could be heard near a major air base near Isfahan, raising fears of a possible Israeli strike following Tehran's unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on the country.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Nearly half of China's major cities are sinking, researchers say
Nearly half of China's major cities are suffering 'moderate to severe' levels of subsidence, putting millions at risk of flooding especially as sea levels rise.
Prince Harry formally confirms he is now a U.S. resident
Prince Harry, the son of King Charles III and fifth in line to the British throne, has formally confirmed he is now a U.S. resident.
Judge says 'no evidence fully supports' murder case against Umar Zameer as jury starts deliberations
The judge presiding over the trial of a man accused of fatally running over a Toronto police officer is telling jurors the possible verdicts they may reach based on the evidence in the case.
Health Canada to change sperm donor screening rules for men who have sex with men
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
Colin Jost names one celebrity who is great at hosting 'Saturday Night Live'
Colin Jost, who co-anchors Saturday Night Live's 'Weekend Update,' revealed who he thinks is one of the best hosts on the show.
Sports columnist apologizes for 'oafish' comments directed at Caitlin Clark. The controversy isn't over
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball's highest scorer Caitlin Clark's first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
'Shopaholic' author Sophie Kinsella reveals brain cancer diagnosis
Sophie Kinsella, the best-selling author behind the 'Shopaholic' book series, has revealed that she is receiving treatment for brain cancer.