As of March 10, 2025, Alberta Health is provincially funding respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine for community-dwelling seniors 70 years and older (down from 75 years) and First Nations, Metis, and Inuit individuals 60 years and older. Residents of continuing care homes and senior supportive living accommodations who are 60 years and older continue to be eligible to receive provincially funded RSV vaccine. For more information, please refer to the RSV biological page on the Alberta Immunization Policy webpage.
ACP reminds pharmacists to be diligent when prescribing or administering an RSV immunizing agent for a patient. Alberta Health has received reports of incorrect administration of RSV immunizing agents to patients, including infants receiving adult vaccine and pregnant individuals receiving the incorrect vaccine.
Pharmacy teams note that as of March 10, 2025, the provincially funded RSV vaccine distribution expanded to include all pharmacies participating in provincially funded vaccine programs. For more information, refer to Alberta Blue Cross Benefact 1235.
An article on this topic was published by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada, and it is being shared so that these incidents can be avoided. The article includes key contributing factors to the incidents and provides recommendations to inform continuous quality improvement activities that support safe administration of the right product to the right patient.
