The rollout of the third doses of the COVID-19 vaccine – what some call a “booster” shot – is going too slow.
And I’m tired of it. I’m angry and I’m fed up. I see health officials all over the world saying “get the third dose” and I’m like, “OK, I’m ready for it – stick it to me!” but B.C. keeps plodding along with this painfully slow process while I see other jurisdictions opening things up.
Maybe in the coming days health officials will announce changes as Omicron continues to spread like a wildfire and case numbers continue to skyrocket.
Maybe Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix will stop forcing me to beg to get a life-saving vaccine. They need to find a way to speed this all up.
B.C.'s booster dose campaign is providing third doses of the vaccine right now to immunocompromised people, those older than 70 years who have gone six months after their second dose, as well as to health-care workers and those who received two AstraZeneca doses of vaccine, and have gone six months since their second dose. Others older than 18 years are expected to be allowed, in stages, to get booster doses in 2022.
To me, that is too long away. I want my jab now. Open up more clinics, hire temporary staff - do something! Act like this is an emergency!
This is so extremely concerning. They’re playing politics and using disinformation because the roll out is a slow mess. But we need to be communicating how important 3rd doses are for protection & reducing transmission. https://t.co/iZpsDz9m6f
— Andrew Longhurst #COVIDisAirborne (@a_longhurst) December 16, 2021
As for others, if you haven’t been vaccinated yet you need to get on with it too.
The B.C. government estimates that 86.8% of eligible British Columbians, older than five years, have had at least one vaccine shot, while 82.5% of that eligible group is fully vaccinated with two jabs.
Unvaccinated people continue to be the ones most spreading COVID-19.
Between Dec. 8 and Dec. 14, people not fully vaccinated accounted for 46.3% of new cases, and between Dec. 1 and Dec. 14, those individuals accounted for 70.2% of hospitalizations.
Perhaps Omicron is having an effect on people’s choices.
A record 29,953 people received their booster dose in the past 24 hours, for a total of 660,784 people.
Regular vaccinations are also being done, with 5,494 British Columbians getting their first jab in the past day, while 2,803 others received second doses of vaccine.
Federal officials are pleading for people to get boosters. Other provinces have opened it up to 18 years of age and older. I don't understand what B.C. is waiting for while other provinces are acting quickly. #bcpoli #covid19 #covidbc #covid19bc
— Jess Balzer (@Balzer_Jess) December 16, 2021
It’s great that those folks are finally doing the right things. Now we need to speed things up for the rest of us.
- With files from Glen Korstrom, Glacier Media
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
