CARP Response to Alberta’s COVID-19 Vaccine Policy Change
June 16, 2025
The Canadian Association of Retired Persons – CARP, is deeply concerned by the Alberta government’s decision to limit free COVID-19 vaccine access for seniors not living in congregate care. While we understand the need for fiscal responsibility and the desire to avoid vaccine wastage, restricting access to a proven life-saving vaccine for older adults—simply because they are healthy and living independently in the community—is a dangerous miscalculation.
Vaccines are not just a personal health decision; they are a public health imperative. Seniors, by definition, experience a natural decline in immune function as they age. Even healthy individuals over the age of 65 are at significantly higher risk of hospitalization, complications, and death from COVID-19. The mRNA vaccines have been critical in reducing these outcomes, keeping seniors out of emergency rooms and intensive care units, and ultimately saving lives.
We strongly reject the framing of this issue as “vaccine choice” or a matter of cutting costs. Vaccine access should never depend on a senior’s income level or whether they live in a facility. Requiring healthy seniors to pay out of pocket—potentially over $100 per dose—is a barrier that will lead to fewer vaccinations, more illnesses, and ultimately greater costs to the healthcare system down the line.
Pharmacists must be at the heart of any vaccine distribution strategy in Alberta. They are the most accessible healthcare professionals for many Albertans, particularly in rural and underserved areas. Alberta pharmacists have built trusted, long-standing relationships with their patients and have been the go-to providers for immunization since around 2010—one of the earliest such models in the world. With access to comprehensive patient medication and testing data, pharmacists are uniquely positioned to take a holistic, individualized approach to care and prevention. Alberta also leads the country in pharmacist prescribing authority, making them powerful allies in driving vaccine uptake and maintaining community health.
Sidelining this essential, community-based health infrastructure would be a missed opportunity. Instead of throttling access, Alberta should be promoting and facilitating widespread vaccine uptake among seniors by leaning into the proven strengths of its pharmacy network.
It is especially troubling that just a few years after the tragic loss of so many seniors to COVID-19, the province is now narrowing access to the very protection that could prevent further loss.
Public health policy must put people first. If the government’s goal is to minimize waste, the solution is smarter distribution—not abandoning vulnerable groups. We urge Premier Danielle Smith and Minister Adriana LaGrange to reconsider this short-sighted move and reinstate full access to COVID-19 vaccines for all seniors who want them.
Anthony Quinn
Chief Operating Officer, CARP
www.carp.ca
Media Contact: media@carp.ca
