I hate the term “vaccine hesitancy” or “vaccine hesitant” because it’s too cuddly and kind.
The reason that most people aren’t getting the COVID-19 vaccine is more insidious than someone just being hesitant.
And I’m not talking about the people who can’t get the vaccine because of underlying conditions.
I mean the folks who are healthy but refusing to get jabbed because they’ve fallen victim to an organized campaign of misinformation on such platforms as Reddit and Facebook. This campaign has been designed to convince people the COVID-19 vaccine is dangerous and a way of controlling them. The campaign ignores the large volumes of dependable science and instead just spreads baseless conspiracies.
And people are falling for it.
We’re at more than 78% for first doses in B.C., but as columnist Keith Baldrey pointed out earlier this week, the daily percentage of people getting first doses has been dropping.
It’s gotten to the point where health authorities are trying gimmicks – like Fraser Health’s vax-a-thon that included offers of prizes and some Alberta’s lottery – to convince people to get that first dose.
It’s ridiculous. It’s a simple shot to help save your life and stop the spread. It’s not perfect, but all the science backs up its effectiveness.
B.C. just passed the five-million-vaccine-dose threshold on June 30, with health officials having administered 5,002,916 doses to 3,581,410 people, with 1,421,506 of those getting needed second doses, the province revealed June 30.
The vaccination campaign includes 61,121 doses in the past day, to 8,079 unvaccinated people and to 53,042 others as needed second doses.
Provincial health officer Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said in a joint statement that the numbers translate into 78.4% of all adults in B.C. having received at least one dose of vaccine, while 32.8% of all adults have had the needed two doses. Their number crunching also found that 77.1% of those aged 12 years and older have had at least one dose of vaccine, with 30.6% of those getting needed second doses.
B.C.'s high proportion of the population that has had at least one dose of vaccine was part of the reason why Premier John Horgan announced that starting July 1, a wide range of health restrictions, including an order to wear masks inside public buildings and on public transit, would end. Wearing masks will simply be advised in those settings.
In B.C., new infections have been trending downward, and active infections have fallen like a stone – with lower numbers in each of the province's 47 previous data updates.
The reason is mostly because of vaccinations and yet these “hesitant” people just refused to believe the ample amounts of science.
Stop getting your facts from your buddy’s sketchy Facebook posts and get vaccinated.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
