COVID shots unavailable at some Calgary pharmacies due to shipment delivery delay

Some pharmacies waiting on the new COVID-19 shot Albertans who are looking to receive their flu and COVID-19 shots at the same time may be out of luck for the time being.

Alberta rolled out its fall immunization campaign on Tuesday, but people hoping to get both a flu and COVID-19 vaccine at the same time might have to wait, with many pharmacies yet to receive a shipment of the new COVID shots.

"We were expecting to get flu and COVID shots together, so that was the plan initially, but just prior to the launch, we were told the vaccines would be a little delayed for COVID," said Nisma Shaukat, the pharmacist at Copperfield Pharmasave.

In September, Alberta Health announced both vaccines would be available on Oct. 15.

While many pharmacies are unable to open bookings until delivery of the shots, others were forced to cancel bookings on Tuesday.

"It's certainly inconvenient for people, especially when a lot of them heard through radio commercials and things like that that everything would be available together on the 15th," Shaukat said.

"So, many are coming in together, expecting to do both and we have to tell them, 'No, we only have one available at the moment.'"

Health Minister Adriana LaGrange says a "glitch" involving a distributor, McKesson, has led to the delay in shipments.

"I'm assured they are rolling out the vaccine products and vaccine themselves to pharmacies and AHS clinics and will have everyone full-supplied by the end of the week."

Previously, the province blamed distribution problems for family doctors not getting access to flu shots to administer.

Now, it's pharmacists who worry the delay may make it difficult to get people back through the doors for another appointment, citing a slowdown in vaccine uptake in Alberta.

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.

"It slowed down some, no question there. Last year, I think the flu numbers were half the peak and that's also why we had a really bad flu year," said David Brewerton with Lukes Drug Mart.

He describes the delay as a minor inconvenience but said Albertans shouldn't hesitate to get the shot as soon as they can, with a new strain of COVID-19 circulating.

"They should get it soon," he said.

"The fellow I just gave it to now has a person at work already and they've got other people with it. There is certainly COVID going around, there is no question there."

Health experts worry about what kind of impact a delay in vaccines will have on the upcoming respiratory virus season.

"The problem is low uptake today is going to a lead to a problem not tomorrow, not three weeks from now, but Christmastime when we're going to have all the hospitals overflowing," said microbiologist Jason Tetro.

He accuses the province of doing little to encourage Albertans to get vaccinated, citing what he describes as a lack of a fall immunization campaign, due to ideological reasons.

"Politicization of the vaccine has made a huge impact, so now we have right versus left but at the end of the day, getting a jab in your arm shouldn't be political," he said.

LaGrange said the province invested $500,000 to immunization campaigns, the same as the previous year.

A delivery date for the COVID-19 vaccine is dependent on pharmacies, so Albertans are encouraged to check in or check online for appointments.