Editorial — Vaccination confusion
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How did a group of hockey players get their H1N1 vaccination shots in Abbotsford this week?
According to the team’s communication spokesperson, members of the AHL Heat were determined by the team doctor to be in a “high risk” group, in part due to a heavy travel schedule. A later statement added that some players had experienced illness on a road trip.
The Heat’s parent team — the Calgary Flames — were also recently vaccinated, and that too, is now under media, public and official scrutiny.
According to the Heat’s spokesperson, the players were just like “John Q. Public” when they went to a clinic to get their shots.
There are a number of factors which counters that spin. For starters, John Q. Public doesn’t have its own, designated team doctor.
Regional health authorities, who are following a national protocol in administering the vaccine, have not identified frequent travellers as being in initial high risk groups.
The B.C. Lions football team requested the vaccine and were told they’d have to wait until availability of the vaccine increased.
Even firefighters and police officers have to wait their turn.
The H1N1 vaccine is in seriously short supply due to manufacturing problems. Even people identified in the highest risk group, including those with pre-existing health conditions, pregnant women, and children under five, are experiencing difficulty obtaining the shots.
Under those circumstances, the public might well question how an increasingly scarce vaccine can be accessed by individuals who are not in the highest risk groups.
The optics of this are, frankly, poor. So are the loose and largely discretionary guidelines issued by health authorities as to how the vaccine is distributed.
From confusion over vaccination necessity, recipient qualification, distribution and supply, this mass immunization roll-out has been marked by far too many unanswered questions, and as a result, has been less than confidence-inspiring.
—Abbotsford News
(Black Press)
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