Alta. premier doubles down on vaccine advice as respiratory illness increases

Alberta's hospitals are dealing with a massive uptick in respiratory illnesses, and there's worry in the healthcare system that low vaccination uptake, government messaging and busy holiday get-togethers will make things much worse.

Influenza is driving a lot of concern.

The flu has already taken the lives of 44 Albertans, and hundreds of others – many of them young people – have been forced into crowded medical facilities.

"Our hospitals are overflowing with sick people with all respiratory viruses, but influenza is one of the worst right now," Dr. Paul Parks said.

"We're seeing adults that are maybe going to need heart transplants. We're seeing two-year-olds out there that are getting influenza and having an infection of the brain that may be life-threatening."

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You can trace a direct line from those horror stories to the province's lowest influenza vaccination rate in more than a decade.

Less than 23 per cent of Albertans have their flu shot. And there's even less interest in the latest COVID-19 vaccine – only 15.5 per cent of people have received it since September's launch.

On Thursday, physicians and infectious disease experts warned that without proper precautions, things will get worse.

"With fewer people vaccinated in the community, it means many more of those cases are resulting in more severe symptoms and more severe disease," the University of Calgary's Craig Jenne said.

"Vaccine fatigue is very understandable, but unfortunately, the viruses don't care."

But despite Jenne's concern, Alberta's government isn't doing all it can to raise caution – and the province's low vaccination rates.

In fact, some believe it may actually be hurting the cause.

According to documents first obtained by the Globe and Mail, Danielle Smith's government recently directed Alberta Health Services to remove the words “influenza” and “COVID” from the province’s fall vaccination campaign.

The article says internal documents show the province told the authority to wait before communicating with the public, even as illness rose.

The premier is still refusing to tell Albertans to get immunized, instead sticking to a commonly-repeated deflect.

"People need to talk to their doctor about what vaccinations they need and how to protect themselves," Smith said Thursday.

The problem? More than 700,000 Albertans don't have a doctor.

When pressed by CTV News, the premier said there is information online.

"There are public health officials who are making public commentary, there's walk-in clinics," Smith continued.

"I think that there are a lot of avenues for people to be able to get good medical advice, and I don't think they go to politicians to get medical advice. I'm certainly not going to give it."

Jenne believes there should be a responsibility for better messaging from all public officials – not just those in Alberta.

"It's partly about your personal health and your personal safety," he said. "It's largely about community health. And we need everybody to do their part. Getting vaccinated now will offer protection throughout the spring and against various strains."

To learn more about immunizations – or to book an appointment – visit the AHS website.