Letter: Bring back the COVID-19 vaccine

By Letter to the Editor on July 17, 2025.

Dear editor,

Just when you think that our provincial government can’t come up with any more bizarre ideas, they do.

The COVID-19 vaccine is no longer being funded by the province because the premier questions its effectiveness and many doses were wasted.

I would like to know what ended the COVID-19 pandemic if the vaccine is ineffective.

After the vaccine was introduced, hospitalization numbers dropped and businesses could re-open and stay open. What does the premier contribute the drop in COVID-19 cases and end of the pandemic to?

I wish she would provide us with her rational.

Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 has many benefits that are supported by scientific studies.

On June 6, the CDC recommended a 2025 COVID-19 vaccine for most adults ages 18 and older. This includes people who have received a COVID-19 vaccine, people who have had COVID-19 and people with long COVID.

They stressed getting the 2025 COVID-19 vaccine is important because, protection from COVID-19 vaccine decreases with time, immunity from COVID-19 decreases with time and COVID-19 vaccines are updated to give the best protection from the current circulating strains.

In a study published in the fall of 2024 in Canada to better understand the value of vaccines, it quantified the return on investment.

The results were staggering.

For every dollar invested in adult immunization, there is more than three times (341 per cent) value returned in health and economic benefits.

Adult vaccines have a major impact on Canada’s economy, currently saving over $2.5 billion annually in unnecessary health care costs and lost economic productivity.

Two separate reports found that routine vaccine procurement accounts for only 0.2 per cent of total healthcare spending in Canada.

Gerri Renz

Medicine Hat

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