Delayed vaccine rollout a federal government issue, Alberta health minister says

Getting a flu shot at your family doctor's office has been a struggle for some, and local general practitioners are sounding the alarm on the delays in vaccine delivery.

"It's very disappointing to say no to patients," said Dr. Mukarram Zaidi, a family physician at Signature Medical Centre in Signal Hill.

"I haven't seen a real communication coming. We have just been telling our patients that we don't have the vaccine yet.

"The patients are really disappointed, saying, 'Oh, we need the flu vaccine because by this time we had the flu vaccine last year.'"

Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange says the delayed rollout is a federal government issue.

"We are awaiting that finalization and then they (the federal government) are also the ones that procure en masse for the whole country," LaGrange said.

"We always want people to make sure that they're doing what's best for them -- if they feel they need to go and get their vaccine, to encourage them to do that as soon as it's available to them."

During the 2023-24 flu season, 1.1 million Albertans received a flu shot, the majority through pharmacies and clinics.

That's about 140,000 people fewer than the previous year.

Fourth Street Medical Clinic emailed its patients saying it will not be able to offer flu shots to patients this year, referring them to book with AHS or their local pharmacy.

The clinic cited "AHS distribution issues."

In the meantime, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) says it is not providing Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine during this respiratory virus season, citing low demand.

The agency says a very small portion of the doses ordered in 2023 were used and its decision reflects efforts to limit vaccine wastage.

It is distributing two mRNA vaccines -- made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna -- approved for adults and children six months and older.

LaGrange says she expects the rollout of vaccines to come on Oct. 15 but would not say how many are expected.

Over the weekend, Premier Danielle Smith responded to a caller on her radio show who had concerns they couldn't receive a flu shot due to vaccine spoilage.

"I haven't seen a flu vaccine getting expired in my clinic or getting spoiled," Zaidi said.

The PHAC provided CTV News with a statement on Thursday.

"Influenza vaccine supply for public vaccination programs is well underway. As of Sept. 16, the first lots of vaccine were available for ordering by provinces and territories. There have been no delays; flu vaccines are on track for delivery to Alberta, as scheduled," it read.

"Doses of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine began being delivered to jurisdictions the week of Sept. 23 to support fall vaccination campaigns."