While COVID-19 immunization percentages continue to increase across Alberta, the vaccination uptake in north Rocky View County (RVC) is still lagging compared to the provincial average.
According to Alberta Health’s vaccination status map – an online, interactive tool that shows how many COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in each region of the province – the percentage of people vaccinated in north RVC is 10 to 12 per cent lower than the percentage of total Albertans who have received their first dose.
The government’s statistics indicate 3,215,144 doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been administered in Alberta as of June 10. That means about 58 per cent of all Albertans had received their first dose by that date, while 68 per cent of eligible Albertans – those 12 years old and older – had received their first injections.
However, according to the map, only about 48 per cent of all residents in the Crossfield-Irricana-Beiseker region – about 4,556 people – had received their first dose of vaccine by June 10. In those three communities, about 56 per cent of all eligible residents had received a jab.
The slow uptake in his town came as a surprise to Irricana Mayor Frank Friesen, who said he thought the numbers would have been higher. However, he said the statistics could possibly be skewed by a number of Irricana residents receiving their injections in other communities.
“I just noticed earlier today there was a line-up of at least 40 people [outside our local pharmacy], and I’m sure other residents have gotten their shots in Calgary or Airdrie,” he said on June 9.
Beiseker’s mayor Warren Wise said he has encouraged residents to book their vaccines, and included a plea for residents to pursue immunization against COVID-19 in his June column for the Village of Beiseker’s monthly newsletter.
“As with anywhere, we do have some people opposed to the idea of vaccinations,” he said. “The numbers…may reflect the difference between urban and rural areas.
“Personally, I have received both of my shots due to age eligibility and having been fairly quick off the mark when the vaccine was offered.”
Wise added spring is a busy time of year for people working in the agriculture sector – a considerable portion of Beiseker and area residents – as it is when seeding and spraying occurs.
“This time of the year is critical to farming operations and that may be part of the reason that the numbers are lagging, he said.
There are three pharmacies in Beiseker, Crossfield and Irricana where residents can receive their jabs. In Crossfield, Rockyview Pharmacy is offering the Moderna vaccine, while the Beiseker Pharmacy and the Remedy’s Rx Pharmacy in Irricana are offering Pfizer-BioNTech shots.
Anamaria Muresan, a pharmacist at the Remedy’s Rx in Irricana, said the slow uptake in the region could be the result of some leftover vaccine hesitancy surrounding the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which was previously the only vaccine her pharmacy received shipments of.
She said residents were concerned about the low-risk chance of blood clots that were associated with AstraZeneca – a fear she said media reports likely amplified during earlier stages of the government’s vaccine rollout.
“We tried really hard to rest them assured that since it’s a vaccination the government approved for their age group, the risk was extremely low and almost close to blood-clotting in the general population without the vaccine,” she said. “But the fact [AstraZeneca] was on the internet and TV so much, people were having blood-clotting issues and passing away from it, and that raised a lot of concerns.”
After the Alberta government stopped offering the AstraZeneca shot in May, Muresan said there was a pause before her pharmacy started to receive shipments of the Pfizer vaccine in its place. During that time, she said there was a decline in Irricana residents getting vaccinated, as many older residents did not want to travel to cities with higher rates of COVID-19 transmission, such as Airdrie or Calgary, to get their jabs.
But ever since the pharmacy has started receiving Pfizer shipments on a weekly basis, Muresan said more people have been getting vaccinated in Irricana. She added the pharmacy was even able to get through its most recent 180-dose shipment in just one day on June 9. Previously, she said a shipment of 180 doses would take two days to get through.
As the Alberta government and pharmacies continue to conduct the vaccination rollout, Muresan said it’s easy to place blame for any hiccups or shortcomings, but she encourages people to remember that everyone is doing their best.
“Everyone feels they should be blaming Alberta Health, Alberta Blue Cross or the government,” she said. “I feel like we’re all people and it’s been handled the best we can. I doubt anyone has done anything intentionally wrong, and everyone wants to get out of this sooner rather than later.
“It’s humans driving the trucks and humans picking it up. We all make mistakes or have shortcomings, but at the end of the day, we’re all trying really hard to do our best with this.”
Scott Strasser, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @scottstrasser19
