First-responders in COVID-19 hot spots called in for jabs
Health officials are rolling out vaccines to first-responders in COVID-19 hot spots in the Lower Mainland and up the Sea to Sky corridor, but at least some who represent other workers on the front lines are left asking: Why not us?'
Mounties and firefighters in Surrey and White Rock started lining up Monday for a round of priority vaccinations expected to wrap up Tuesday, said Staff Sgt. Janelle Shoihet, an RCMP E Division spokeswoman. Jabs for those police come on the heels of a drive to immunize Mounties in Whistler and Pemberton in recognition of the COVID-19 outbreak in the region, she said.
Among those who received a shot first thing Monday morning was Sgt. Elenore Sturko, a Surrey RCMP spokeswoman, who said she and her colleagues were receiving their shots due to the high COVID-19 numbers in their city.
“We're really grateful we've been selected to be part of that,” Sturko said. “It is a big ask. There is only a finite amount of vaccines right now.
Everybody's trying to get one because we all have that sense of hope and we all want to be able to do our part and get vaccinated and keep our families and communities safe.”
Sturko said the shots are a morale boost and police are appreciative to have received them.
“It is big, because the vaccines are in high demand. There's lots of people still waiting in the wings to get theirs. We're fortunate, we're grateful, we're not taking it for granted. We're putting them to good use and we're continuing to do our duty here in the city.”
Among those waiting in the wings are VPD members. Ralph Kaisers, president of the Vancouver Police Union, said he believed his members should have been vaccinated a longtime ago, citing a recent outbreak where COVID-19 spread among a dozen or more of them.
“What's a huge concern is our members that may potentially be positive are still out there, sometimes, without even knowing they're positive and they're interacting with members of the public,” he said. “One call may be (in) someone's house. The next
call that same member might be in a long-term care facility.
An hour later they might be in a daycare dealing with something. There's certainly a risk to the public if we're not vaccinated.”
Kaisers said if health officials handed over vaccines, VPD members could get their shots the very next day.
Surrey Fire Chief Larry Thomas said about 400 people in his service were slated to receive their vaccines.
“They're very grateful. There's a real positive vibe in the station today when I came to work,” he said.