Former official and diplomat Norman Spector shared with me a fascinating article this weekend from the Ottawa Citizen.
A family doctor in the national capital, Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth, was hoping to carry out mass vaccinations for people who want a fourth dose of COVID-19 but do not meet Ontario standards.
He reportedly wanted to set up a large outdoor “jabalooza” clinic, but health officials refused to provide him with vaccines.
Ontario restricts access to fourth COVID-19 vaccine injections to those 60 years of age or older.
Next to Quebec, people can get fourth shots if they are 18 or older.
“I’m getting a lot of individual requests for help,” Kaplan-Myrth tweeted Sunday (June 26). “Right now I can’t give you the vaccine, but raise your hands (and DM) if as plaintiffs you want to take this to court as a group. I would need a litigation team.”
https://twitter.com/nilikm/status/1541041156062068736
There is a wealth of scientific data showing that COVID-19 vaccines reduce the severity of COVID-19. They reduce the likelihood of dying or being hospitalized for the disease.
https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1540006627683622912? ref_src = twsrc% 5 …
However, the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine decreases over time. That’s why Kaplan-Myrth is such a strong supporter of booster injections. She believes these reinforcements are especially important when so many people don’t wear masks inside.
Note that COVID-19 initially presents as a respiratory infection.
In some cases, however, it causes severe brain damage and cardiovascular problems. It is especially dangerous for the immunocompromised, who have a higher risk of severe COVID-19.
This is because the virus that causes COVID-19 not only damages blood vessels and causes blood clots, but also alters the immune system. Researchers have even linked immune dysfunction to serious brain damage, which is explained in the following video.
Video from Here’s what we know about the impact of COVID-19 on the brain
Video: Here’s what we know about the impact of COVID-19 on the brain.
BC doesn’t want most under-70s to get fourth shots
In the face of all this, BC continues to take a hard line on the distribution of the fourth doses of vaccine.
This is the case even after Global News BC journalist Richard Zussman revealed that 226,000 doses for vaccine doubters will expire by the end of July.
In BC, you must be 70 years of age or older and have spent six months from a previous vaccination against COVID-19 to qualify for a fourth dose.
There are exceptions: Indigenous people, for example, can receive a fourth dose if they are 55 or older.
Below you can read other exceptions listed by the BC Center for Disease Control for people between the ages of 60 and 69.
The BC Centers for Disease Control listed these exemptions, which qualify anyone between the ages of 60 and 69 for a fourth vaccination against COVID-19.
However, when Georgia Straight asked the Ministry of Health about who qualified for a fourth vaccination against COVID-19, it did not include what is written after the letter “d”: “Caregiver of a frail or moderately to severely immunocompromised elderly person “.
Therefore, it is not yet clear in BC whether a person between the ages of 60 and 69 who cares for a frail elderly person or a moderately to severely immunocompromised person can receive a fourth vaccine against COVID-19.
However, from the above exemptions, it seems pretty clear that if you are a cancer survivor or you have kidney disease or you have heart disease or multiple sclerosis or you have had a transplant and you are under 70 in BC, you will not be able to get a quarter COVID. -19 vaccinations according to current regulations.
Why is BC more restrictive with COVID-19 booster injections than Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan (where you only need to be over 50), as well as the entire United States?
Health Minister Adrian Dix needs to clarify that.
What possible justification is there for withholding a fourth vaccine against COVID-19 in British Colombians under the age of 70, especially immunocompromised ones, when 226,000 doses of vaccine are expected to expire next month?
Why is Dix so convinced that he knows better than the governments of Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan?
We do not know the answer.
This is partly because our timid BC Liberal MPs refuse to hold the NDP provincial government accountable for its COVID-19 policies.
Some on social media speculate that booster injections are being held as part of a population-level experiment, conducted without people’s consent, on the effectiveness of delaying second booster injections.
Dix and the provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, through their actions, are giving oxygen to this hypothesis.
https://twitter.com/WestcoastBCLife/status/1538713744590589953
Who knows? There could even be a scientific justification for withholding booster injections.
But in the absence of evidence provided by the BC government, the health minister must stand in front of a microphone on Monday (June 27) and give a coherent explanation.
Failure to do so will only fuel more suspicion about the reasons for government policy.
Perhaps it is worth noting that in January 2021, Science published a study with 188 people, which offered some hope.
It showed that more than 95 percent of those who had recovered from COVID-19 had immune systems that demonstrated “lasting” memories of the virus, which lasted up to eight months.
This sparked speculation on the National Institutes of Health website that vaccinated immune systems would have lasting memories of the virus.
But a study of 188 people is insufficient as a basis for an entire provincial policy.
Some might wonder if the government is not making fourth doses of COVID-19 vaccines available to those under the age of 70 because of the cost of distribution or because of the shortage of labor in the healthcare sector.
Others might suspect it’s because the BC government believes everyone will have COVID-19 anyway, so why bother?
If this is the real reason, it is a meager monumental service for those with compromised immunity. This should require a response from Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender, which goes far beyond writing a letter to Henry. Such as conducting a public inquiry under section 47.15 of the British Columbia Code of Human Rights.
In the meantime, show us the evidence, Minister Dix, of why so many British Colombians are being denied a fourth vaccination against COVID-19.
And if you’re not willing to do it, set it aside so another Health Minister can do it for you.