Starting this fall, some Alberta residents who want to receive the COVID-19 vaccine will be required to pay the full cost of the vaccine, the government says.
The federal government has been paying for COVID vaccines since 2020, although usually the cost of vaccines is the responsibility of the provinces. In April, the procurement process for the COVID vaccine changed, and Ottawa stopped covering the cost, meaning the provinces are responsible for purchasing doses.
The Alberta government announced on June 13 that the cost will need to be passed along to patients because of wastage in past years. It said about 54 percent, or one million doses, of the COVID vaccines were wasted from 2023–2024, costing an estimated $135 million….