The disconnect reached near-epic proportions on Tuesday. At precisely the same time the Sunshine Coast COVID Physician Task Force sent out a community update urging residents not to go off Coast for vaccination, Vancouver Coastal Health blithely told this paper: “Eligible residents on the Sunshine Coast are welcome at all available clinics across VCH.”
“Across VCH” includes Vancouver, Richmond, North and West Vancouver, Whistler.
At least VCH was being consistently foolish, as its call takers had been telling Sunshine Coast residents who tried to book vaccine appointments that they could not be accommodated on the Coast but they could get their shots at clinics on the North Shore – or they could drive to Golden, if that would be more convenient.
Setting aside the geographical impairment of at least one booking agent, why was this such a bad idea? As the task force doctors put it: “Staying local will help to reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19 in areas with higher rates of infection and help to protect our community as well.”
It’s not a new message. Has a day gone by when Dr. Bonnie Henry didn’t plead with British Columbians to “stay home, stay local”?
But instead of keeping vaccination local on the Sunshine Coast, VCH has shut down clinics in Gibsons and Madeira Park and centralized everything in Sechelt. And now, apparently, Sechelt isn’t being supplied with enough vaccine to keep up with the demand. So, instead of sending more vaccine to the Coast, VCH is sending Coasters to the Lower Mainland for the vaccine.
It’s absurd, and the task force doctors say they are “working to correct this, so please be patient while this gets straightened out, and do not go off Coast to get your vaccination.”
We are left to conclude that health officials have identified the Sunshine Coast as a lower priority than other areas because of its relatively low case count. Confirmed cases are now averaging two per day, the task force says, and the numbers have been rising steadily since the last week of March. The increase is not alarming but it is an upward trend and the potential for exponential growth remains a concern.
That’s why minimizing all off-Coast travel and exposure should be a matter of some medical urgency. Our own doctors understand this. VCH doesn’t seem to really care.
The provincial health ministry, which is ultimately responsible, needs to act now and direct VCH to serve Coast residents on the Coast – and preferably in their own communities.
