Vaccination town hall for residents of B.C. Interior sees officials address COVID-19 conspiracy theories

Vancouver -

A virtual town hall meeting held to answer questions about COVID-19 vaccines from residents of the hard-hit Central Okanagan region earlier this week saw multiple people level conspiratorial accusations against provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix.

The page on the provincial government's website advertising the event is no longer live, and there is no recording of the meeting, which was held by telephone and streamed online, on the province's YouTube page. 

Castanet News recorded the event, which was held Wednesday night, and shared its audio recording with CTV News Vancouver.

One caller was cut off before he could finish formulating his question, which began by accusing Henry of being "a strategically placed agent of the United Nations and the Rockefeller Foundation working for Bill Gates and big pharma."

Dix was quick to defend Henry against the accusation.

"Dr. Henry is an outstanding leader in public health care, something she has demonstrated throughout this pandemic," Dix said. "In my view, and everyone's allowed their opinion, what we don't need is untrue personal attacks."

Another caller was cut off after asking a question about the validity of the polymerase chain reaction tests that are used to detect the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes COVID-19. That caller also questioned whether the virus even exists, and asserted - incorrectly - that it had not been isolated in a lab.

Henry responded to that question, explaining briefly how PCR tests work and noting journal articles that have shared photos of the coronavirus taken in lab settings.

"The PCR test is a test for some of the genetic material of the virus, the RNA," Henry said. "It is a very valid test. We use it for all kinds of different viruses. We use it for testing for influenza, we use it for testing for a whole bunch of other viruses and bacteria. It is a very well recognized and validated test."

PCR tests have been a favourite target of COVID-19 conspiracy theorists, who have asserted that the tests are used improperly, don't actually detect SARS-CoV-2 or have been recalled by the World Health Organization for yielding too many false positives. All of those claims have been refuted, with fact-checkers describing them as either false or misleading.

Henry urged people watching the town hall to "be really careful" about the sources they're using to get information on COVID-19, encouraging people to look to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control and the Public Health Agency of Canada for answers to their questions.

She also recommended speaking to people who have had COVID-19 and people who are vaccinated against it.

"There are a lot of people out there who are trying to undermine this for a whole variety of reasons," Henry said. “I would encourage you to speak to people who have been absolutely affected by this virus and to people who are protected from the vaccines that we have."

Other callers to the town hall asked questions about how to get vaccinated without a B.C. Services Card, the efficacy of mix-and-match vaccine doses, and the impact of tourism on the current surge in cases in the Interior.

Those questions, and the responses to them, were more reflective of the "respectful and serious discussion" that Dix said B.C. residents owe to those who have died from COVID-19 in the province.