The COVID pandemic has been over for a while now, leaving Canadian officials to wrestle with the cost of providing an expensive, but largely unwanted, vaccine to the public. Alberta’s come up with a reasonable compromise: give the vaccine to vulnerable populations for free, but charge elective vaccine recipients $100 for the shot.

Financially, it’s absolutely the best way to go. Post-pandemic, Canada has been dumping COVID vaccines and therapeutics like mad: the feds trashed $1.2 billion in unused product in 2023-24, which is probably why they ultimately passed the buck to the provinces this year. The move saved the federal Liberals from having to answer for the waste, or defunding the vaccine for the general population and dealing with whatever nasty blowback that would follow.

The co

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