Advocates want COVID-19 vaccine boosters for B.C. seniors in the community
Seniors living in long-term care are now being offered a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine, but elderly British Columbians who live in the community aren't, and advocates say that needs to change.
“We are already hearing that some of the double shot Pfizer (recipients) are getting COVID again, and there have been deaths,” said Ramona Kaptyn, president of the Surrey/White Rock chapter of the Canadian Association of Retired Persons.
“Some of my CARP members have been calling and they’re very worried, and want to know when the booster shot will be available.”
Geriatrician Dr. Naaz Parmar is also hearing concern from her elderly patients, some of whom would likely be in long-term care, but have chosen to stay at home longer because of COVID-19.
“They are seeing themselves at that same degree of frailty, they’re seeing themselves at a degree of exposure because they have care workers coming and going and other such things, but they are not in that first cohort,’ said Parmar.
With Alberta now offering boosters to anyone over age 75, Parmar and CARP want British Columbia to act now.
“It could be done just like before, starting with over-80s and then working down,” said Kaptyn. “We know how to do it. We’ve done it. I think it’s time to get on with it.”
Dr. Brian Conway, medical director of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre, believes seniors will get their third shot this year.
“To me, it’s a matter of time,” Conway said. “And I think as other provinces do it, then it will probably push B.C. to do it more quickly. They will get it sooner rather than later, we just don’t know when yet.”
And when third shots are offered to seniors, he’s hoping they can be administered in family doctors’ offices, instead of large-scale vaccine clinics.
“If we are going to vaccinate more people more quickly, we need to put COVID vaccines in the hands of many more health-care providers,” Conway said.
He thinks it could be done in conjunction with their flu shots, and believes there is adequate supply for third doses for British Columbians 65 and older.
“We do have enough,” said Kaptyn. “I’m sure that we have enough. We’re giving some to other countries because we have too much now. So it is available, and it should be administered.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.