Provincial Press Release April 14, 2021 @ 10:05am published at 10:12am
Physicians will soon begin vaccinating patients in their clinics as part of a new pilot program.
Starting April 19, 10 physician clinics across the province will participate in a pilot project to administer COVID-19 vaccines to eligible patients. Based on the learnings from this pilot, the program will expand to include more clinics in May.
“Since the start of the pandemic, community physicians have worked hard to support and protect their patients. This pilot is another step forward. Albertans will now have another way to receive their COVID-19 vaccines from an important part of our health-care system. We’re aiming to expand this pilot to many, many more physician clinics as soon as possible.” Tyler Shandro, Minister of Health
“Alberta’s community-based physicians have been playing a key role in caring for patients throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Albertans have a strong connection to their family physicians and look to them to help inform important decisions about their health, such as vaccination. The vaccination of all eligible Albertans is a monumental task and leveraging all our collective resources will be essential in getting this done efficiently. We hope that this pilot effort will lead to significant expansion in vaccine capacity through participating community physician offices.” Dr. Paul Boucher, president, Alberta Medical Association
Alberta Health, the Alberta Medical Association and Primary Care Network (PCN) physician leaders have been working together to incorporate community physicians into the provincial vaccine rollout as supply increases.
This pilot will test the most effective ways to transport, book and administer the vaccine through community physician clinics. There will be two participating clinics in each AHS zone during the pilot phase.
Each participating clinic will initially receive 200 doses of the Moderna vaccine. Clinics will contact their patients who are eligible for vaccination.
As of April 12, more than 970,000 doses of vaccine have been administered in Alberta. The province is on pace to offer every adult a dose of vaccine by June 30. Alberta’s government is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by protecting lives and livelihoods with precise measures to bend the curve, sustain small businesses and protect Alberta’s health-care system.
Quick facts
New billing codes have been added to the schedule of medical benefits to allow physicians to bill for this service. The information can be found on the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan Bulletins page.
Exact locations will not be publicly posted during the pilot phase to prevent patient care at these clinics being affected by public interest. A complete list of participating clinics will be posted online when the rollout expands next month.
Participating clinics will contact patients and handle appointment bookings directly.