Voices are growing about health care workers in Alberta being left with sub-standard equipment after the province gave away better stuff to other promises..Alberta Health Services sent 5.6 million masks to Alberta facilities, doctors, pharmacies, and first responders April 13 – as Premier Jason Kenney offered up 750,000 masks to B.C., Ontario, and Quebec – shortly before 40 tonnes of supplies arrived from China..Critics have also slammed the government of Alberta’s decision to promote the Premier’s charity on Facebook – at a cost ranging between $14,000 and $20,000 – but moved to question whether Alberta’s front-line healthcare workers were left with shoddy equipment afterwards..Demand for masks and other medical supplies to deal with the pandemic has been exceptional across the globe – providing an opportunity for manufacturers who are not regular suppliers to change production to the ‘must have’ items..These “imitations” have come under fire from some front-line service providers in the province..A Calgary-area nurse told CBCher facility was previously using masks from an Edmonton manufacturer, Pri-MED – who is registered with Health Canada as a supplier of medical supplies – and is now receiving a new product, Vanch, that neither seals, nor fits to different face sizes as N95s..The masks have also been blamed for facial swelling, headaches, and rashes..An Edmonton doctor, Micheal Chatenay, also told CBC the “new” masks were “sub-standard”..Government spokespeople disagree..Health Minister Tyler Shandro’s press secretary, Steve Buick, said all PPE procured by Alberta Health Services is safe and disputed the need to rely on supplies from Canada as “preposterous”..“AHS is doing a superb job of sourcing PPE. To do so, they’re working with new suppliers, and that includes adjusting products to meet their needs and respond to staff concerns,” Buick told CBC in response..“The minister’s office said AHS is working on a process to reduce the smell from the procedural masks, and future shipments from the supplier will include corrections to improve fit,” according to the same article, suggesting the new masks are not, in fact, the same standard as previously supplied..Premier Kenney announced Sunday that Alberta had received an additional 2 million KN95 masks, a distinction between the new ones and the N95s that Alberta had been sourcing previously, according to Dr. Amir Pakdel, an Edmonton doctor..“KN95 are almost like N95s,” Dr. Pakdel wrote on social media..“KN95 is regulated by Chinese governments, while N95 is (the) North American standard. The only reason to use KN95 is if we’re out of N95s.”.These recent complaints follow a long list of problems with masks from China that have become more apparent with the increased need..A Global News investigation revealed on March 21 that counterfeit masks manufactured in China were being sold globally. The article included a EuroNewslink to a recall of KN95 masks distributed in the Netherlands..Kenney told Power and Politics interviewer Vassy Kapelos that he would “not wait for Health Canada to catch up” to authorize product or drug safety that either the European Union or United States Food and Drug Administration authorized for use..The USFDA has authorized a human trial on Americans of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine by the Swiss drug company Novartis AG, who hopes to have results by the summer..To date, the small French study’s results – which first sparked interest in the malaria drug as a potential treatment for COVID-19 – have yet to be replicated..Deirdre Mitchell-MacLean is a Senior Reporter with Western Standard.dmaclean@westernstandardonline.com.Twitter @Mitchell_AB
