As the doors opened for Phase 2 of the vaccine rollout on the Sunshine Coast, a short line had formed outside the Gibsons Legion.
On March 16, Sunshine Coast seniors 80 and older and Indigenous people 65 and up who had an appointment were able to get their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The line outside the legion didn’t last long, and was made up of people who arrived ahead of their appointment time.
Gibsons Legion member Malcolm (Doug) Smith said the lineup added a little confusion at first. Once he received his first dose of the vaccine, the 86-year-old celebrated with a beer in the Legion’s lounge next door to the clinic.
The whole process took only about 20 minutes, 91-year-old Langdale resident Sheila Mullen told Coast Reporter after receiving her dose.
“I didn't feel anything,” Mullen said. “It's so gentle, you wouldn’t even know that the needle was going in.”
Several people said getting the vaccination was a relief, and they look forward to reuniting with family and friends in-person in the future. Most of the people the Coast Reporter spoke to commented on how easy the process was at the vaccination clinic, although some raised concerns about how the clinics will handle a lineup if the weather takes a turn.
Wilma Jones, president of the Gibsons Legion, also received her first dose on Tuesday. She said the vaccination made her feel “a little relieved now… I think maybe we’re seeing a little light at the end of the tunnel. I know we all still have to do the masks and all that, but maybe we’re on the road to being successful and getting back to almost, almost normal.”
Ahead of the launch of Phase 2, the Sechelt Hospital Foundation hosted a virtual “MedTalks” presentation about what Sunshine Coast residents need to know about getting their vaccinations. On March 11, the talk came exactly one year after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19 as a pandemic.
Dr. Jennifer Baxter, a family physician at the Gibsons Medical Clinic and part of the COVID Physicians Task Force, said, “I’ve been really impressed and humbled by how well our community is embracing the vaccine.”
By March 11, Baxter said, more than 2,200 people were vaccinated on the Sunshine Coast as part of Phase 1. Phase 1 of the province’s vaccination plan included people in long-term care and assisted living patients. They received two doses, as did health-care workers in more exposed settings.
Baxter said there was also around a 90 per cent uptake in Indigenous elders getting their vaccinations.
“They’re showing incredible leadership in our community by doing that,” she said.
In the presentation, Baxter said the predominant vaccine available on the Sunshine Coast is from Pfizer. She added that she discourages people from holding out for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, since it will take quite a while to be distributed on the Coast. Baxter said she herself would take whichever vaccine is available to her when she’s able to make an appointment.
“Once you’re vaccinated, that doesn’t change any of the regulations. You still need to follow all of the public health guidelines and recommendations and regulations. We’re still washing our hands all the time, we’re still wearing masks, we’re still keeping our social distance, we’re still not gathering in homes,” Baxter said, since there is still the “wildcard” of the more transmissible, more lethal variants of the virus.
As for people unable to attend clinics for their vaccine, Gerry Latham, Vancouver Coastal Health director for the Sunshine Coast, said the Home and Community team has been providing outreach visits.
On March 15, the provincial state of emergency was also extended, for the 26th time since it was initially declared.
As he waited in line, Gibsons’ Ted Peters said getting the vaccine was a “beginning of a change of life… I’m looking forward to it. I regret the people that don’t want to get it, but I am going to rely on the medical profession.
“It’s just another day, except it's momentous.”
– with files from Sophie Woodrooffe.
