Table of contents

Overview

The Alberta Immunization Policy (AIP) contains a complete listing of publicly funded vaccines and biologicals, and indications for their use.

Immunization policy changes

The Alberta government has introduced new requirements that will standardize practices for all immunization providers, regardless of whether a vaccine is provincially funded or privately purchased

The Immunization Regulation:

  • requires health practitioners to report immunizations and assessments electronically to Alberta Health within a week – effective January 1, 2021
  • requires health practitioners to report adverse events following immunization to Alberta Health Services within 3 days of becoming aware – effective December 17, 2018
  • sets out requirements for the storage, handling and transportation of vaccines – effective December 17, 2018

The regulation will improve the effectiveness and responsiveness of Alberta’s immunization program and was supported by regulatory bodies and stakeholders involved in the consultative process.

Legislation

COVID-19 and immunization

Immunization is one of the most important public health measures used to protect the health of Albertans. It is one of the most successful and cost-effective public health interventions.

Keeping your routine immunizations up-to-date is an important way you can help your community during the COVID-19 pandemic. This helps to protect your loved ones, vulnerable Albertans and reduce the burden on Alberta’s healthcare system.

Alberta Immunization Policy COVID-19 documents

AIP documents

All current AIP documents are hosted on Open Alberta.

AIP updates

Introduction to AIP

General principles

History of immunization in Alberta

Immunization schedules

Biological products

Botulism

COVID-19

mRNA vaccines

Other COVID-19 vaccines

COVID-19 resources for health care practitioners

Diphtheria Antitoxin

dTap

dTap-IPV

DTaP-IPV-Hib

DTaP-IPV-Hib-HB

HIB (Haemophilus influenzae type b)

Hepatitis A (HAV)

Hepatitis A and B (HABV)

Hepatitis B (HBV)

HPV

Herpes Zoster

Immune Globulin (IG)

Influenza (Flu)

MMR

MMR-Varicella (MMR-Var)

Meningococcal

Mpox

Pneumococcal

Polio

Rabies

Rotavirus

Tetanus

Tuberculin

Typhoid

Varicella

Special situations for immunization

Cold chain storage and handling

The following policies apply to all Alberta immunizers who provide publicly funded vaccine:

Alberta Health Services Cold Chain resources

Information on how to report a temperature excursion (cold chain break) is included in the Alberta Health Services Standard for Vaccine Storage and Handling (PDF, 380 KB)

See the Immunization Regulation for specific timeline parameters for reporting of temperature excursions (cold chain breaks).

Product problem form

Use the publicly funded vaccine product form (PDF, 2.8 MB) to report vaccine products that are faulty when received or noticed at time of administration. Reportable issues include:

  • floaters or sludge in the vial
  • unsealed packaging
  • number of doses withdrawn from a multi-dose vial is fewer than the number of doses indicated on its label
  • broken vial
  • no label or an incorrect label
  • faulty syringes
  • white clip backstop is detached

Where possible, return the faulty product as outlined on the form.

Adverse events – immunization

Data from Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) reports contribute to provincial immunization program evaluation as well as to the national AEFI surveillance. The following reporting guidance is available for Alberta immunizers:

How to report an adverse event following immunization

The Immunization Regulation requires health practitioners to report adverse events following immunization for all vaccines (provincially or non-provincially funded) to Alberta Health Services within 3 days of becoming aware.

Imm/ARI data submission guidelines

Contact

Connect with us for clarifications related to the Alberta Immunization Policy:

Email: [email protected]
Fax: 780-422-6663

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