Leadership comes in many forms.
Sometimes it’s just a matter of doing something publicly to let others know something is safe. Like Burnaby South MP and federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh getting the AstraZeneca vaccine and letting others know about this.
That’s what Singh has done since people 40 and older in B.C. are now allowed to get the AZ jab. According to a tweet by CBC journalist Sarah Sears, Singh is the first federal party leader to get vaccinated.
There is a lot of fear-mongering going on about the AstraZeneca vaccine and so it’s vital that public figures let it be known that they are willing to get it.
Many experts say the AZ jab is safe, including Burnaby’s own Dr. Davidicus Wong, who wrote about it recently in the NOW.
“At this point in the third wave of our pandemic, your risk of being infected with COVID-19, being hospitalized and dying is far outweighs your risk for the rare VIPIT condition from the AstraZeneca vaccine,” Wong said.
“In fact, if you are not vaccinated, you have a much higher chance of getting COVID-19 and developing the usual type of blood clots that are associated with this virus. One in 5 of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 develop blood clots … As I’ve advised most of my patients, I told my sister to get the AstraZeneca vaccine last week rather than waiting the extra weeks or month it would take for her to wait for the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. Our community case counts are currently so high that the risk of getting a COVID-19 infection is too great to delay getting any vaccine.”
Jagmeet Singh got his first AstraZeneca jab at a doctors office in Ottawa this evening. He’s the first federal political leader to receive the vaccine. (According to the internet he turned 42 this year.) pic.twitter.com/hLeKv0mAU4
— Sarah Sears (@iamSas) April 21, 2021
So keep this in mind in case you are vaccine hesitant or shopping around waiting for your turn for other COVID-19 vaccines.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
