Update Oct. 20: On Friday afternoon, the Alberta government announced it would increase the limit on the number of vaccine doses pharmacies can order per week.
In a statement, a spokesperson said Alberta Health won a new shipment of COVID-19 vaccines and that on Monday the limit will be higher from 100 to 350 per week.
“This backlog will result in certain pharmacies having more doses to administer and increase the availability of appointments at pharmacies across the province,” according to the release.
It is unclear to what extent this construction will address the problems at source.
Our previous article from Friday morning is below:
With less than a week to go until Alberta’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign, there are fears that the rollout may not be keeping up with demand.
The updated XBB. 1. 5 vaccines began use on Monday, but a cap on vaccine distribution means some people are facing canceled appointments.
Jessy Roos, a pregnant Calgaria mother of four, was eager to get her updated COVID vaccine and worried about rising transmission rates.
“I don’t need to put my baby in danger,” Roos said.
She booked an appointment at a Calgary pharmacy on Friday, but received a text message the day before the cancellation.
“It’s frustrating. I feel like it shouldn’t be that hard to take care of myself,” she said.
“We love the personal work in this province and I’m looking to take on all the personal work, and the process to get there is exceedingly complicated right now. “
Health Care Stretched to the Limit as Albertans Hospitalized with COVID-19 Double
Pharmacies in Alberta can only order 100 doses per week, for now, according to Alberta Health.
At the Crowfoot Medicine Shoppe in northwest Calgary, pharmacist and owner Randy Howden says it’s enough for about a day.
“It’s been very frustrating to have to tell other people that we don’t have a vaccine for them,” said Howden, who is also president of the Alberta Pharmacists Association.
“It would be great if there was a procedure in place for pharmacies to request more vaccine doses, justify their needs, and get an additional allocation. “
According to Howden, the effect of the cap will vary across stores.
“For the busiest pharmacies, this has a huge impact. Not having enough vaccines means we don’t need to book as many appointments as we’d like to meet the demand that exists in the community.
The Cambrian pharmacy in Calgary is busy.
The pharmacy director, Mathieu Giroux, already has more than 200 people on his waiting list.
“So at a hundred a week, that’s a full two weeks of other people who are on hold right now,” he said.
“The demand we’re seeing for this COVID vaccine series is particularly higher than previous booster rounds. “
The province warns that there is no shortage of the XBB. 1. 5 vaccine.
“However, initial restrictions are being put in place for equitable distribution across the province and restricting waste,” Alberta Health spokesperson Andrew Livingstone said in an emailed statement.
“Pharmacies schedule appointments to meet available supplies. We noticed that some pharmacies are overbooked. “
The restriction is in place for 14 business days, according to the province.
“Pharmacies that offer the vaccine to Albertans make sure to set appointment availability based on their source so they don’t have to cancel appointments,” Livingstone said.
There is an RSV vaccine for older Albertans, but it costs $300 each.
According to Health Canada, Alberta has requested and won 1,047,710 doses of updated COVID-19 vaccines (696,350 doses of Moderna and 351,360 doses of Pfizer).
“Canada has access to sufficient sources of new mRNA vaccine formulations to assist provinces and territories in managing the fall 2023 campaigns,” he said.
Meanwhile, one of the main distributors, McKesson Canada, has shown that it now has Moderna and Pfizer formulations in stock.
“The Moderna vaccine has been available since orders opened last week. Possibly there would have been an initial or transitory delay when we got the first deliveries and distributed the allocation in real time,” he said.
“The Pfizer COVID vaccine will be available to order starting [Thursday] and pharmacies are expected to deliver it this week. “
According to McKesson, if a pharmacy orders more vaccines than allotted, it’s Alberta Health’s turn.
The province has said whether to make any exceptions.
Noting that there are limits on COVID and flu vaccines, he said demand is no higher than expected and, starting next Thursday, will share data on doses administered through his respiratory virus dashboard.
Journalist
Jennifer Lee is a reporter for CBC News in Calgary. She worked at CBC Toronto, Saskatoon and Regina before landing in Calgary in 2002. If you have a story about fitness or human facets to share, let them know. Jennifer. Lee@cbc. California
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