B.C. health authority apologizes after yellow star handed out at COVID-19 vaccine clinic
A British Columbia health authority is apologizing after being made aware that a clinic had handed out yellow stars for those getting their second COVID-19 vaccines.
Vancouver Coastal Health became aware of the issue when a vaccine recipient posted a photo on social media.
"A yellow star for double vaccination? Really…?" Andrea Coutu wrote on Twitter Thursday, tagging VCH, the provincial health minister and the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.
Her photo showed her immunization record card and a yellow star that appeared to be similar, if not the same, as the sticky note in that shape made by Post-It.
Many clinics in B.C. have been using coloured, square sticky notes to designate which vaccine a person in line is getting, though it was not immediately clear if this was why Coutu was handed the star.
In response, Vancouver Coastal Health posted an apology about the incident, noting the connotation of the yellow star, a symbol Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe were once forced to wear as a means of identification.
The six-pointed star, as described by the Montreal Holocaust Museum, "facilitated the persecution of Jews by identifying them during mass arrests and later deportations."
"We are deeply concerned by reports that a yellow star was provided at a VCH clinic to an individual who received a vaccination. We take these reports seriously," the health authority wrote.
VCH said it had looked into every clinic in the authority and had "no knowledge" of the stars being handed out anywhere. It said the star has not been approved for distribution anywhere.
"We apologize profusely for any inadvertent distribution of this sticker. The use of yellow stars carries a heavy and tragic history, especially for the Jewish community, and does not reflect our organization's values or our commitment to provide culturally safe care across our health authority," VCH wrote.
"We understand that this gesture is considered hurtful."
In a brief message posted on Twitter, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver thanked VCH for its "responsiveness and strong statement," as well as "all you do to keep us healthy."
Nico Slobinsky, senior director at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs also commented on the apology.
"Thank you (VCH) for this statement and for acknowledging the hurt and trauma that seeing a yellow star used in a medical setting has for the Jewish community," he wrote.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.