Dear Editor:
With at least three to four months to prepare for the COVID-19 vaccines they knew were coming, why does it seem Premier John Horgan and Health Minister Adrian Dix are making it up as they go along?
Speed and efficiency in getting as many vaccine shots into people’s arms is of the utmost urgency to delay or avoid any variant surge in cases. Yet the government still seems to have no fully integrated plan or strategy to do this.
I went by the West Vancouver vaccination clinic on Saturday [March 13] and it was closed for the weekend. Where is the urgency?
First there was the delay in announcing the plan until one week before vaccinations were to start. Then the vaccine reservation mess on Monday [March 8] (but they conveniently blame that on the phone provider). And now with vaccinations happening, these are limited by the ongoing telephone reservation system.
Why still no online reservation system except in Fraser Health? Most of the tech companies in the province could have set up this system provincewide in a week or less.
Why not have the vaccination clinics going 14 hours a day or even 24-7? I’d be willing to show up at 4 a.m. if it meant getting a shot.
Why not allow drop-ins for the qualified age group at the clinics to ensure there is no downtime due to double booking or people not showing up for their reservation?
Why not drop the closed-shop mentality and involve all available resources including pharmacists (see Ontario) and GPs, etc. to administer shots and not just leave it to public health-care authorities.
Although health-care workers have gone the extra mile in dealing with this crisis to date, leaving the planning and management of this crucial vaccine program to the individual health-care bureaucracies is a mistake – these are the same people who can’t make a dent in two- to three-year wait-lists for needed surgeries.
Premier Horgan and Mr. Dix should have set up a full overriding crisis committee and maybe a COVID vaccine czar (where is a Jimmy Pattison when we need him?) to manage and institute this vaccine program long ago. If this program does not go quickly and efficiently, the premier and Mr. Dix can hide behind Dr. Bonnie Henry’s assurances for only so long.
Bruce Leslie
West Vancouver
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