Alberta COVID-19 Task Force Calls for Vaccine Halt, Finds ‘Critical Failure’ in Health System Response

The task force review was mandated in 2022 by Premier Danielle Smith.

Peter Lougheed Centre hospital staff wait to screen essential visitors as part of COVID-19 precautions in Calgary on April 9, 2020. Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press

Alberta’s health-care system suffered a “critical failure” in its COVID-19 messaging, according to the province’s pandemic review task force, which says mask mandates and lockdowns were harmful and recommends a halt to COVID-19 vaccine use without full disclosure of their potential risks.

The Jan. 24 report, “Alberta’s COVID-19 Pandemic Response,” was written by the province’s COVID-19 review task force, the only one of its kind in the country. It was mandated in 2022 by Premier Danielle Smith.