Based on new data supplied last week by the BCCDC, Coast health-care workers have been handing out more jabs than heavyweight champion Larry Holmes.
By May 13, 17,000 people had received a dose of COVID-19 vaccine and by May 14 that included this reporter, who queued up at the Sechelt Seniors Activity Centre with what may have been the entire population of 30-somethings on the notoriously mature peninsula.
“It’s exciting to be in a line!” said one millennial, while another piped up how nice it would be to wait with a beer, or three.
The contrast between young and old was somehow more pronounced with so many of us in line that day, clambering like groupies for a taste of country rockstar Moderna.
After a security guard shepherded us through the doors, it was mostly older people handing out fresh masks and checking our names. Their presence offered an unexpected gut-punch reminder that the twin evils of isolation and vulnerability have feasted on the spirits and health of so many seniors on the Sunshine Coast.
But their presence also offered a vision of resilience.
For starters, they’re helping get the Coast to herd immunity ahead of schedule.
At 80 per cent, the Coast is among the top performing local health areas in the province when it comes to its vaccine coverage for people 55 and older.
The older folk are helping the Coast perform, but not simply by showing up to get stabbed.
Case in point – a dear elderly friend was slinging vaccine at the station in front of mine at the clinic, one of many retired nurses, physicians and other health-care workers who’ve gone Rosie the Riveter on this pandemic.
It was another retired physician from Vancouver who jabbed me. He reckoned he’s administered more than 1,000 doses at clinics across the Vancouver Coastal Health region, and has enjoyed the relief that comes with each prick.
As he prepped a needle for yet another, he expressed his appreciation for the large number of Sunshine Coast residents who’ve stepped up for a vaccine. Maybe he didn’t need to. Maybe he was just loosening me up for the big shot. But I like to believe he was sincere. The doctor was enthused enough to send out a hearty and very un-doctor-like “Go Sechelt!” after all.
Looking at the clinic worker demographics and taking in those immunization statistics, it’s hard not to want to add a “Go seniors!” rejoinder to that burst of enthusiasm.
When it comes right down to it, we’ve got the olds to thank for taking the Coast to a COVID K.O., one jab at a time.
