COVID-19, influenza vaccines available soon at Alberta pharmacies

Influenza vaccines will be available in Alberta pharmacies on Oct. 16, with the new Moderna XBB.1.5-targeted vaccine likely to be accessible around the same time.

Health Canada approved the highly anticipated booster shot on Tuesday for all Canadians six months and older. It targets the latest COVID-19 variants to provide optimal immunity.

While pharmacies haven’t received a confirmed distribution plan, it appears availability may line up with the flu shot.

“What we’re hearing from Alberta Health is it will probably be at the same time as the flu shot,” said Randy Howden, owner of the Crowfoot and Shawnessy Medicine Shoppes. “So, people will be able to receive one or the other, or both, depending on their preference.”

Howden says he has received a lot of questions about the availability of the new vaccine and many people have come into his pharmacy hoping to get it. While people are still able to get a bivalent booster, Howden says the better course of action is to wait a few more weeks until the XBB vaccine is available.

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Alberta Blue Cross released a Pharmacy Benefact bulletin in August with guidelines for COVID vaccines saying delaying vaccination has multiple benefits. It says the updated vaccine will help maintain protection against severe outcomes from the most recent variants and getting a bivalent booster now could impact eligibility when the new vaccine is available.

Howden is encouraging everyone to get the vaccines when they become available in October, saying lately it’s been more difficult to tell which virus you have.

“Sometimes it’s really hard to know what we have,” says Howden. “It could even be COVID because a lot of people just have a mild illness… The more people who get the vaccine, especially early on, hopefully we can reduce some of the wait times in emergency and reduce hospitalizations in general.”