Former senior civil servant and diplomat Norman Spector shared a fascinating article with me this weekend from the Ottawa Citizen.
A family physician in the national capital, Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth, hoped to conduct mass vaccinations for people who want a fourth dose of COVID-19 but don't qualify under Ontario's rules.
She reportedly wanted to create a large outdoor "jabalooza" clinic but health officials refused to provide her with vaccines.
Ontario restricts access to fourth shots of COVID-19 vaccines to those who are 60 years of age or older.
Next door in Quebec, people can get fourth shots if they are 18 and older.
"I am receiving lots of individual requests for help," Kaplan-Myrth tweeted on Sunday (June 26). "I can't give you the vaccine at this time, but hands up (and DM) if you as plaintiffs want to bring this to court as a group. Would require a litigation team."
https://twitter.com/nilikm/status/1541041156062068736
There's a tremendous amount of scientific data showing that COVID-19 vaccines lessen the severity of COVID-19. They reduce the likelihood of dying or being hospitalized from the disease.
https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1540006627683622912?ref_src=twsrc%5...
However, COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness wanes over time. This is why Kaplan-Myrth is such a strong advocate for booster shots. She believes that these boosters are particularly important when so many people are not wearing masks indoors.
Keep in mind that COVID-19 initially presents as a respiratory infection.
In some cases, however, it causes serious brain injuries and cardiovascular problems. It's especially dangerous for the immunocompromised, who are at higher risk of suffering severe COVID-19.
That's because the virus that causes COVID-19 not only damages blood vessels and triggers blood clots, but also disrupts the immune system. Researchers have even linked immune dysfunction to serious brain injuries, which is explained in the video below.
B.C. doesn't want most under-70s to get fourth shots
In the face of all of this, B.C. continues adopting a hard line on the distribution of fourth vaccine doses.
This is the case even after Global News B.C. reporter Richard Zussman revealed that 226,000 doses intended for the vaccine-hesitant will expire at the end of July.
In B.C., you have to be 70 years of age or older and have gone six months since a previous COVID-19 vaccination to qualify for a fourth dose.
There are exceptions: Indigenous people, for example, can get a fourth dose if they're 55 or older.
Below, you can read other exceptions listed by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control for those between the ages of 60 and 69.
However, when the Georgia Straight asked the Ministry of Health about who qualified for a fourth COVID-19 vaccination, it did not include what's written after the letter "d": "Caregiver of a frail elderly or moderately to severely immunosuppressed person".
So it remains unclear in B.C. if a person between 60 and 69 who is a caregiver for either a frail elderly person or a moderately to severely immunosuppressed person is able to receive a fourth COVID-19 vaccination.
Yet it seems pretty clear from the exemptions above that if you are a cancer survivor or have kidney disease or have heart disease or have multiple sclerosis or have had a transplant and you're under 70 in B.C., you will not qualify for a fourth COVID-19 vaccination under existing rules.
Why is B.C. being more restrictive with COVID-19 booster shots than Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan (where you only need to be 50-plus), as well as the entire United States?
Health Minister Adrian Dix needs to come clean on that.
What possible justification is there for withholding a fourth COVID-19 shot for British Columbians under 70, especially the immune-compromised, when 226,000 vaccine doses are set to expire next month?
Why is Dix so convinced that he knows better than the governments of Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan?
We don't know the answer.
That's in part because our pusillanimous B.C. Liberal MLAs refuse to hold the provincial NDP government accountable for its COVID-19 policies.
Some on social media are speculating that the booster shots are being withheld as part of a population-level experiment—conducted without the people's consent—on the efficacy of delaying second booster shots.
Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, through their actions, are giving oxygen to this hypothesis.
https://twitter.com/WestcoastBCLife/status/1538713744590589953
Who knows? There might even be a scientific justification for withholding booster shots.
But in the absence of evidence provided by the B.C. government, the health minister must get in front of a microphone on Monday (June 27) and provide a coherent explanation.
Failure to do so will only fuel more suspicion about the motives behind the government's policy.
Perhaps it's worth noting that in January 2021, Science published a study involving 188 people, which offered a glimmer of hope.
It showed that more than 95 percent of those who had recovered from COVID-19 had immune systems demonstrating "durable" memories of the virus, lasting up to eight months.
This prompted speculation on the National Institutes of Health website that the immune systems of those who are vaccinated would have lasting memories of the virus.
But a study of 188 people is insufficient as the basis for an entire provincewide policy.
Some might wonder if the government isn't making fourth doses of COVID-19 vaccines available to those under 70 because of the cost of distribution or due to the labour shortage in the health-care sector.
Others might suspect it's because the B.C. government thinks everyone is going to get COVID-19 anyway, so why bother?
If that's the real reason, it's a monumental disservice to those with compromised immunity. This should demand a response from Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender that goes well beyond writing a letter to Henry. Like by holding a public inquiry under section 47.15 of the B.C. Human Rights Code.
In the meantime, show us the evidence, Minister Dix, for why so many British Columbians are being denied a fourth COVID-19 vaccination.
And if you're unwilling to do that, then please step aside so another health minister can do this in your place.
MoreHealth Minister Adrian Dix must come clean on why B.C. is restricting fourth COVID-19 vaccinations - The Georgia Straight
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