VANCOUVER -- Juliet Henderson is a manager at a Lower Mainland group home that offers round-the-clock care for people who have had life-altering injuries from either illness or trauma.

Most staff at the facility, including Henderson, received their COVID-19 vaccines during Phase 2 of the province’s rollout. Recently, however, those who haven’t been vaccinated already have started to be turned away from clinics, Henderson said. 

“We had great support form Fraser health getting us vaccinated starting March 15,” she said. “Suddenly, at the beginning of this month, I started receiving complaints from our staff saying they’re not letting us get vaccinated, they’re turning us away, they’re telling us it’s not our time yet, they’re asking us our age. Most recently, they’ve been told you need to get a letter from (provincial health officer Dr.) Bonnie Henry.”

Staff members seeking to book their vaccine appointments now were offered their shots during the previous phase, but were either wary of the vaccines at the time, have underlying health issues, or are pregnant and therefore wanted their doctors to clear them first, Henderson said.

Now that cases are rising and the highly contagious variants are spreading, Henderson said all of those who want to be vaccinated have been cleared by their doctors and are ready to receive a shot.

“I’m there to advocate for them and protect them, and it’s just one roadblock after another,” she said.

People who are pregnant have been made a priority group in other provinces across the country, including Ontario.

“Pregnant people have essential jobs, pregnant people are living with people who have essential jobs,” said Christie Lockhart, chief of the department of midwifery at Michael Garron Hospital in Toronto. “They have children that are going to school and daycare, so they’re not able, always, to stay home and isolate.”

ICUs have been filling up with pregnant women, and there have been calls by physicians and OBGYNs to make this group a priority across the country.

In a statement on Friday, B.C.’s Ministry of Health said: “Our immunization program is targeted to immunize those who are at the highest risk of COVID-19. That’s why we’re focusing our efforts on our age-based program, offering AstraZeneca to people 40+ through our pharmacy rollout, our (clinically extremely vulnerable) priority groups and outbreak management.”

The ministry added that as B.C. moves through its immunization rollout and gets more supply of vaccine, it will add additional priority groups.

“We have a lot of the essential workers who came out on that list who seemingly have been forgotten or have been passed over and there is virtually no appeal board that someone could go to to actually get back in queue,” said Renee Merrifield, health critic for B.C.’s official opposition Liberals.

“There has been so much subjectivity, there have been so many mixed messages. Communication has been difficult and confusing.”

She said the answer to any given vaccine question seems to depend on who you ask.

“There’s variations between health authorities, there’s variations between who picks up the phone at which time, there’s variations between who you go to for your vaccine and who happens to be sitting at the door,” said Merrifield.

She added it’s time for the province to change course on vaccine rollout, and focus on where transmission is happening.

“The most vulnerable populations have been vaccinated,” she said. “What we’ve seen so far is just an inability to pivot, an inability to really be nimble and be responsive to what we’re seeing and what we’re hearing.”

CTV News reached out to both Fraser Health and the Ministry of Health for comment.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the health authority said: “Health-care workers in approved priority populations, including those who work in congregate settings such as shelters and group homes, are eligible to receive their COVID-19 vaccine at a COVID-19 immunization clinic.”

The ministry said, in its own statement: “Frontline health-care workers are eligible for their first dose. We encourage any who have not yet had a vaccine appointment to book through the provincial call centre.”

Since health-care workers were allowed to get the vaccine as part of Phase 2, they should be able to book their appointments in Phases 3 and 4.

Henderson said her staff have also had issues getting the AstraZeneca vaccine because wait lists at pharmacies are so long, and some are too young to qualify for that program, which is available to B.C. residents ages 40 and older.

“For the people who were nervous, we just want to give them the opportunity as well,” she said, adding that their work often requires being up close and personal with patients, especially those who need help with personal care.

Before the age-based program began, Henderson said everything was very smooth with Fraser Health.

“There was a link we received with our invitation, we could book online and they just gave the times and places, vaccine centres you could go to and it was just so simple,” she explained. Since the province’s age-based program kicked in for the general public, they’ve had issues.

Henderson said everyone who wants a vaccine has registered for one, but it’s in booking the appointment where they run into the issues.

“I’ve written letters,” she said. “In fact, they’ve said letters from employers don’t matter. Someone was even told a letter from their doctor didn’t matter.”

Fraser Health has also made calls on their behalf to try and sort out things out, Henderson said.

“Booking agencies sometimes have different responses than they have on-site,” she said.

She wants to see clear communication going forward.

“There’s just these road bumps at the beginning, but we just don’t have a lot of time for road bumps,” she said.