B.C. residents cross border for 2nd booster in Washington state
With limited access to second boosters at home, a growing number of British Columbians have been considering a trip into Washington state for a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
Vancouver resident Gary Shuster made the drive to Ferndale, Wash., last week, after being refused another booster in his home province.
Shuster, who is a dual citizen of Canada and the U.S., described the process of getting a fourth dose across the border as simple and painless.
“If I’d been a Canadian citizen only, it would have been free,” he told CTV News. “Because I’m a dual citizen, I did pay for it with my taxes.”
According to the Washington Department of Health website, citizenship is not required to get a free COVID-19 vaccine in the state, nor is any form of health insurance
“That means you do not need a social security number, or other documents with your immigration status, to get the vaccine. Some vaccine providers might ask for a social security number, but you do not have to give one,” the site reads.
So far, the U.S. government’s approach to second boosters has been much more inclusive than Canada’s. The U.S. Centres for Disease Control has deemed anyone 12 and older who is moderately or severely immunocompromised eligible for a fourth dose. Anyone age 50 and older can also get one, regardless of their overall health.
For now, British Columbia is only offering second boosters to anyone age 70 and older, Indigenous residents age 55 and older, people living in long-term care homes, and those considered extremely clinically vulnerable to severe infection.
Approximately 112,000 fourth doses have been given out so far, and the province expects to administer hundreds of thousands more over the coming weeks.
Even if he hadn't already crossed into Washington, Shuster would not have been among the recipients. Though he has an extremely rare disorder called carnitine palmitoyltransferase II deficiency, a genetic mutation affecting his muscles, it does not qualify him for a second booster in B.C.
“All the specialists think it’s a high-risk condition, but for whatever reason it’s not on B.C.’s list of high-risk conditions,” Shuster told CTV News.
The lack of vaccine access at home would be less frustrating if the province were still mandating masks and other precautionary measures, he added.
“The province originally took the position that we were going to take steps to protect people,” Shuster said.
“Now the government says to protect yourself, but they don’t make the tools available to protect yourself. That’s a Catch 22 – that’s government not functioning.”
Other provinces have expanded access to fourth doses faster, including in Quebec, where they are now available to all adults. That approach goes far beyond the current recommendations from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization.
Asked about residents driving south to get boosted again in Washington state, B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix stressed that his government is “following the science,” and the direction of federal officials.
He also noted that more than one million people in the province have been invited to book their first booster dose, but have yet to do so.
Dix encouraged others who rushed to get their third dose – and are now growing anxious about the possibility of waning protection – to be patient.
“I understand people’s fear and apprehension,” he added. “I’m living in this world, too.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Former Air Canada employees among suspects identified in gold heist at Pearson Airport: police
Nine people have been arrested in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year, Peel Regional Police said Wednesday.
MPs summon ArriveCan contractor to the House to be admonished in rare parliamentary display
Enacting an extraordinarily rarely used parliamentary power, MPs have summoned an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon to be admonished publicly for failing to answer their questions.
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
Gas prices across Ontario expected to climb to levels not seen since 2022, analyst says
Ontario is going to see a big jump at the pumps later this week as gas prices in the province hit levels not seen in nearly two years, according to one industry analyst.
Ancient skeletons unearthed in France reveal Mafia-style killings
More than 5,500 years ago, two women were tied up and probably buried alive in a ritual sacrifice, using a form of torture associated today with the Italian Mafia, according to an analysis of skeletons discovered at an archaeological site in southwest France.
'Enormous sum of money': Actor Hugh Grant settles privacy lawsuit against tabloid
British actor Hugh Grant has settled a lawsuit against the publisher of Rupert Murdoch's tabloid newspaper, The Sun, over claims journalists used private investigators to tap his phone and burgle his house, he said on Wednesday.
O.J. Simpson was chilling with a beer on a couch before Easter, lawyer says. 2 weeks later he was dead
O.J. Simpson's last robust discussion with his longtime lawyer was just before Easter, at the country club home Simpson leased southwest of the Las Vegas Strip. About a week later, on April 5, a doctor said Simpson was 'transitioning.'
Some of the winners and losers in the 2024 federal budget
With a variety of fiscal and policy measures announced in the federal budget, winners include small businesses and fintech companies while losers include the tobacco industry and Canadian pension funds.
U.K. plan to phase out smoking for good passes first hurdle
The British government's plan for a landmark smoking ban that aims to stop young people from ever smoking cleared its first hurdle in Parliament on Tuesday despite vocal opposition from within Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party.