Pandemic Task Force Report Should be Thrown in the Shredder

Pandemic Task Force Report Should be Thrown in the Shredder

EDMONTON — The final report of the Alberta Pandemic Data Review Task Force was quietly released on Friday afternoon. The poorly written report has been widely condemned by health professionals and public health experts for lacking solid research references, repeating misinformation and discredited ideas and ultimately calling for a halt to the use of COVID-19 vaccines.

“Public health decisions should be made based on the best medical evidence available, something sorely lacking in this report,” said Chris Gallaway executive director of Friends of Medicare. “Instead we have a task force that was created directly as a result of Premier Smith’s political campaign promises, costing Alberta taxpayers $2 million dollars for a report that touts conspiracy theories, undermines public health measures, and seeks to limit Albertans’ ability to access life-saving health care, such as vaccines.”

The recommendation to impede the ability of Albertans to choose to get vaccinated is just the latest in a trend from the provincial government of putting ideology ahead of medical evidence. In the recent legislative session, the government brought in new restrictions to sex education and limited access to gender affirming care regardless of consent, while continuing to promise to soon table forced treatment legislation while cutting harm reduction services. Resolutions to the recent UCP convention also sought to further restrict abortion access, undermine the right to choose, and attack health care services for 2SLGBTQ+ Albertans.

“The Premier and her government talk a lot about freedom and choice in their rhetoric, yet their record shows their true agenda is actually one of ideology and control, a trend that should concern all Albertans” said Gallaway. “From restrictions on gender affirming in care, to forced treatment and cuts to harm reduction services, to restricting access to vaccines, to party resolutions going after reproductive rights, the Premier has consistently shown that her government is more interested in using her political power to pander to extreme views rather than protecting the health of Albertans."

When it comes to the pandemic and the ongoing impact it has had on our public health care system, this government has similarly failed to prioritize evidence or the health care needs of Albertans, including refusing to implement paid sick days for workers or to act protect children and seniors in care at their most vulnerable, and the abrupt and unjustified closure of Alberta’s already scarce long-COVID outpatient programs.

“Albertans should be asking themselves which rights or health care services will our provincial government attack or undermine next?” concluded Gallaway.

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