Provincial health officials give update on severe flu season

By ZOE MASON on December 20, 2025.

Alberta’s top health officials are advising Albertans to get vaccinated amid the height of a severe flu season.

Minister of Primary and Preventative Health Services Adriana LaGrange says this year’s flu season is somewhat unusual as circulating strains are not an exact match for this year’s vaccine, which is contributing to the high volume of flu cases.

Cases have more than doubled since late November.

Dr. Peter Jamieson, vice-president and chief medical officer of Alberta Health Services, says Foothills Medical Centre, where his clinical practice is based, is experiencing an increase in patient volumes related to influenza. But he says those trends are carrying over across the country.

His main message to Albertans is to get the flu shot.

“It is not too late to be immunized,” he said at a press conference Friday. “There is significant benefit. Even though the vaccine isn’t a perfect match this year, it definitely offers you the opportunity to protect yourself from severe illness if you do become infected.”

Here in Medicine Hat, vaccinations are available at your local pharmacy or Shoppers Drug Mart as well as the AHS community health centre.

While officials stressed that emergency rooms are prepared to handle the high volume of respiratory virus patients, they advised people sick with the flu to access care through other channels if possible.

“If you don’t need to go to the emergency room, please do not go, to protect yourselves and others,” said Jamieson.

Other options for care include community urgent care centres, pharmacies, primary care providers and virtual care services.

Jones says 336 hospital beds have been designated for respiratory virus season, including 206 available year-round and 30 surge beds for peak periods. He says it’s the most capacity on record to tackle respiratory virus season.

Jones added that current modelling projects the peak of flu season to hit Dec. 21, with a mid-January peak for RSV.

“Hospitalizations would typically follow that by approximately a week. So if we get to early or mid January, based on the information we have today, provided the forecasting holds up, we will be through the lion’s share of the pressure.”

As of Dec. 18, Jones said 650 patients were hospitalized across the province with influenza. A further 147 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 and 29 with RSV.

The minister says that number is projected to increase during the expected peak in early January, with an anticipated high of around 700-750 ongoing hospitalizations.

Last year, a total of 3,732 Albertans was hospitalized with influenza A and B across the entire season. So far this year, 1,262 people have been hospitalized with flu.

While the measles outbreak in the province earlier this year highlighted ongoing vaccine hesitancy across the province, LaGrange says flu shot uptake is roughly on par with last year’s numbers.

Restoring trust in vaccines is one of the key public health objectives in front of the new chief medical officer of health, Dr. Vivien Suttorp. Suttorp’s appointment to the role was announced Thursday.

“I spent over 30 years in medicine, and most of it in rural communities. It’s important to build trust in those relationships.”

She says communicating with local health leaders and creating strategies of care that are culturally acceptable will be key aspects of her new role.

Vaccination rates remain low in certain pockets of the province, including Mennonite and Hutterite communities.