Return to normality by fall

This week, Public Health Authority Canada stated that all Canadians who want to be vaccinated will receive it by September 2021.

This comes as a 64-year-old residential care home worker was the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in B.C. This dose was among 4,000 doses that have arrived in the province, to be delivered over the coming days. 

Canada has signed agreements with seven different companies for up to 418 million doses of the vaccine. This is to ensure that an effective and safe vaccine is available to Canadians, even if some of the vaccines don’t make it past clinical trials.

The two companies at the forefront are Pfizer and Moderna. The Pfizer vaccine has been approved by Health Canada, and the Moderna vaccine is pending approval and will be distributed once approved.

Each vaccine is slightly different, but currently require two separate doses, as well as logistical issues to do with transportation, storage and handling. The vaccine must be kept at very low temperatures, and thus the distribution of the vaccine across B.C., including its rural and remote communities, must be carefully planned. 

The B.C. CDC has confirmed the order in which people will get vaccinated, should they choose. The plan is to reduce the risk of severe outcomes and deaths due to COVID-19, and thus the vaccine will be first given to residents, staff and essential visitors of long-term care and assisted-living homes, as well as healthcare workers for COVID-19 patients in ICU, COVID-19 wards and emergency departments. 

A National Advisory Committee on Immunization also recommends that adults aged 70 and over, starting with those 80 years old and over, should be made a priority.

They also recommend early vaccinations for adults in Indigenous communities where infections can have disproportionate consequences. 

Key to this message is that people will be vaccinated “if they choose.” With anti-vaccination protests and rallies commonplace in Kelowna and B.C., it is clear that not all individuals are planning to get vaccinated.

While some are staunch activists against all vaccinations, others have specific concerns about this particular vaccine, especially due to the quick turn-a-round time. 

However, this vaccine has gone through all the same trials and met the same regulations as any other vaccine that has been approved for public use. It has gone through multiple stages of trials, including phase III trials which involve tens of thousands of people.

Health Canada has shortened the administrative and organizational process involved in approving the vaccine due to the urgent nature of the situation, without negatively impacting the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.

There has also been much more funding allocated to this vaccine compared to others, which has also sped up the process. 

However, although there is light at the end of the tunnel, recent events at Big White ski resort suggest that we must still be vigilant with our protection measures against COVID-19.

Social gatherings at private accommodations at the resort have seen over 60 cases; Interior Health is involved, and Big White has fired several staff members for breaching the social responsibility clause in their contract. 

Until Jan. 8, provincial health orders state that we must only socialize with those in our household, with exceptions for those that live alone or apart from their significant other.

Gatherings and parties are banned, and the latest news from Big White highlights the reason for this regulation. 

Keep wearing your mask in public places, stay home when sick, practice physical distancing and socialize only with those in your household; hopefully, this will all be over soon! 

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.