B.C.'s family doctors want COVID-19 vaccine doses to offer in-person patients
Now that she’s seeing patients in person again at her family practice in Vancouver, Dr. Anna Wolak always asks them if they’re vaccinated. If the patient says no, she tries to address their hesitancy, and has had success in getting some of them to change their minds.
But she can only tell them where and how to get their shots, she can’t offer them a COVID-19 vaccine on the spot.
“My worry is somewhere along the way, they will see something on social media or talk to a friend, and all the work I had put into the convincing could fall by the wayside,” said Wolak.
She would like family physicians to have vaccine on hand to offer to patients who are finally ready to roll up their sleeves in the exam room, something family doctors can already do with the flu shot.
“We have a patient coming in for something completely different and say, ‘Hey, have you gotten your flu shot?’ And if they haven’t and we have a quick conversation, it’s right there, it’s like meters away,” said Wolak.
Right now, four hospitals in the Vancouver Coastal Health region have vaccine doses in emergency room fridges. This past week, Dr. Nav Grewal jabbed a patient in the ER for the very first time.
“It was great,” said Grewal. “I was able to take someone who had some vaccine hesitancy, answer their questions while they were there for a non-COVID-related issue, and was able to vaccinate them right there and then.”
She’d like to see that same easy access for family doctors.
“We are down to the last five to 10 per cent of people that are going to get vaccinated. This would be the prime time to get these (vaccines) into family physician offices and other primary care offices,” Grewal said.
Wolak said it’s especially important as B.C. prepares to launch a vaccine campaign for children ages five to 11.
“When they’re with the doctor they have known all their lives and they’ve trusted, it would be easier and less painful for them to get it in my office than, say, in the thousand-people convention centre,” said Wolak.
If the province does offer vaccine doses to family doctors offices?
“Sign me up,” she said. “I’m waiting for my flu shot delivery, so we can give the COVID shot at the same time as the flu shot as well. It would be so much easier.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Air quality alerts issued as wildfire smoke spreads east from Western Canada
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
Steal a car, lose your driver's licence under new Ontario proposal
Repeat car thieves may face lengthy licence bans under proposed changes to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act.
Ellen DeGeneres addresses the 'hurtful' end of her talk show in new stand-up set
Ellen DeGeneres is reflecting on how her talk show came to an end in her newest Netflix special, 'Ellen's Last Stand ... Up Tour.'
When you have a moment's notice to evacuate, what do you take?
Knowing what to have at home, or take with you for an evacuation, can be useful and even life-saving.
LIVE UPDATES Star witness returning to the stand for more testimony at Trump's at hush money trial
Donald Trump’s fixer-turned-foe returns to the witness stand Tuesday for a bruising round of questioning from the former president’s lawyers.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Regulated area for invasive box tree moth expanded to parts of the Maritimes
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has added much of the Maritimes to a regulated area for an invasive species.
Risks of handcuffing someone facedown long known; people die when police training fails to keep up
For decades, police across the United States have been warned that the common tactic of handcuffing someone facedown could turn deadly if officers pin them on the ground with too much pressure or for too long.
A healthy lifestyle can mitigate genetic risk for early death by 62%, study suggests
Even if your genetics put you at greater risk for early death, a healthy lifestyle could help you significantly combat it, according to a new study.