Dear Editor:
I wrote a letter to the editor a few weeks ago, expressing my concerns about the sluggish rollout and what appeared to be a lack of organization and urgency with the government’s vaccine program.
Since that time I have been vaccinated (as an essential caregiver for my 96-year-old mother). I was pleasantly surprised at how smoothly the vaccination process went at the North Van clinic. I was in and out of the clinic in under 40 minutes.
However, ongoing anecdotal evidence and other factors show a lack of organization, efficiency, and urgency in the vaccination process.
Another family member was vaccinated [two weeks ago]. After trying for a week on the government website for a booking as an essential caregiver, no appointments were showing on the site until June. Finally on late Friday afternoon, appointments came open for the following Monday. However, when getting his vaccine at the North Van clinic, he did note that over a third of the vaccination stations had no [vaccine recipients]. No lineup out the door and people were simply trickling in.
Another person I know related a story of getting a phone call from a friend of his from the vaccination clinic in North Van late in the day saying – “Get down here right away – they have leftover vaccine.” He and his wife immediately drove over to the clinic and were promptly vaccinated even though they were not part of the applicable age group cohort.
Am I the only one hearing these stories or witnessing these vaccination issues?
It’s also concerning watching news footage of empty B.C. vaccine clinics with limited hours not being used for part of the weekend or holidays. Compare this with footage from the U.S. or Europe, where people are lined up out the door and being moved through their clinics as quickly as possible.
Why did B.C. take so long to bring in the pharmacies for vaccinations? We are over a month in with the vaccination process and we finally have a form of online vaccination booking from the government – what took so long?
In my view, there is a simple solution to any downtime or potential leftover vaccine at the clinics. Have a standby lineup for the next age cohort who can wait and see if a spot comes available and fill it in and/or use up any vaccine at the end of the day.
Why not train and bring in the military to help with the vaccine process as they are doing in the U.S.?
It is time for the well-paid COVID vaccine plan administrators to think outside their bureaucratic box and come up with all solutions possible to speed up the vaccine process.
Mr. Dix can tout “record” vaccination numbers every day and that we are ahead of schedule on vaccinations. But all this means is that there were more vaccines given that day than the prior day.
Premier Horgan can point his finger at the 20 to 39 year old age group and blame them for being a large part of the growing COVID numbers. But rather than casting blame at the young who are waiting at the back of the vaccine bus, he should be looking into the actions (or inaction) within his own ministries and with his own ministers.
If delay or waste issues are found, the program administrators should be fired and replaced by someone well-versed in crisis management and with the ability to quickly ramp up the vaccine program with more vaccines on the way. It is not a time to repay political favours or be Mr. Nice Guy with the public service.
With over 1,000 new COVID cases every day, every additional vaccination every day will help in the battle against the third wave. Speed – not the ease or pleasantness of the vaccine experience – is of the essence here.
Bruce Leslie,
North Vancouver
