A vaccine drop-in clinic at Newton Athletic Park was administering Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines on Wednesday, April 28th.
Fraser Health opened three other vaccine pop-up clinics as well, however the one in Newton was the only one that wasn’t announced publicly. Most experts have suggested that this is most likely so that people from other areas don’t dominate the lineup.
The Newton location was set to administer 800 doses and the vaccines had run out by 2:30 pm. People were seen camping out overnight, and some waited for more than 7 hours only to be turned away.
Those who were waiting in the line up were extremely frustrated by the management of the clinic. There was a lot of confusion regarding tickets, where some people received tickets for their appointment while others didn’t.
People shared their sentiments on social media and with many news organizations. Everyone knew about the location simply through word of mouth, so people felt justified to save spots, and subsequently budge in line.
Due to lack of communication, people weren’t sure if registration or ID were required, which also held the line back. People who were originally told that their spot in the line was well before the 800 mark, ended up not getting the vaccine.
This has also fuelled further criticism for the vaccine rollout and vaccine hesitancy because people want to get vaccinated, some desperately so, yet they don’t have access to the vaccine.
The Newton clinic was checking postal codes in order to determine eligibility, as the purpose was to vaccinate those living in a hot spot. However a similar pop-up clinic in Coquitlam which was administering 500 doses, was not checking postal codes, and also ran out of vaccines by early afternoon.
This inconsistency among different clinics also frustrated people. People desperate for the vaccine were willing to go farther away to get it, but that defeats the purpose of vaccinating hot spots.
When asked about the pop-up clinics, Health Minister Adrian Dix responded, “I think we could have done better in terms of communication, and we acknowledge that, and we are working on that.”
People are also weary of Astra-Zeneca, which is further making it difficult for clinics that are administering Pfizer or Moderna, as most people prefer them.
The inconsistency in information about Astra-Zeneca is another criticism towards the government, as it is creating fear and hesitancy among the population.
People clearly want the vaccine and Canada has enough vaccines to immunize the population up to three times over, which stipulates the question that why, then is the rollout moving at a glacial speed?