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Opinion: People in Burnaby are using elderly parents to weasel the COVID-19 vaccine for themselves

Don't be these people
COVID-19 vaccine
A senior male is about to receive a COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine. - Photograph via Getty Images

Dr. Bonnie Henry shocked a lot of people when she announced she was extending the time between the first and second COVID-19 vaccine shots to four months.

The idea is to speed things up so more people get their first shots earlier. This will hopefully convince some folks from trying to find loopholes in the system, like that couple that went up north and pretended to be locals in order to get a shot.

There are some awful people who will do anything to get themselves a shot earlier than others their age.

One example are people who pretend they care about their elderly parents who live in long-term care homes in order to secure a dose for themselves.

I spoke with a person whose parent lives in a Burnaby care home. This person is at the care home constantly to provide an extra level of care for their parent. Because of this, they have received their COVID-19 shot before their age group has qualified.

That’s how it’s supposed to be done.

But there are other people who rarely ever visit their parents in the same care home who are pretending they visit multiple times a week in a plot to get the vaccine.

“They are people who are never around and don’t visit much,” this person told me. “But once they found out they could get a shot because they are some sort of ‘caregiver’ they suddenly are showing interest. Once they get the shot, you won’t see them around much. That to me is wrong. If they get vaccinated, you won't seem them often at all.”

These seniors are lonely. There have been long periods of time during the pandemic when care homes have been closed to families and the residents have been suffering. If you get the shot because you are the child of someone in a care home, then you better damn well visit all the time.

Don’t just take advantage of the system.

Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.