NDP leader cool to idea of third shots for travel

While the province has mused about giving third doses of COVID-19 vaccine to facilitate travel, NDP leader Ryan Meili says the government’s priorities should be elsewhere.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Meili said the focus should be getting doses into the arms of those unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.

He said the shift to pop-up vaccine clinics was a good move, but he would have kept the central booking system. He would like to see a change to have outgoing calls notifying people about open appointments, with workers trained to address vaccine hesitancy.

“Our vaccination rates have slowed and stalled, and now we’re last in the country when it comes to first doses,” Meili said. “Falling fast when it comes to second. And that’s really dangerous as we head into the fall.”

Earlier this week, Health Minister Paul Merriman suggested using the province’s vaccine supply to give a third dose to those who received AstraZeneca. This would make it easier for people to travel as some countries do not recognize that vaccine or the mixing of vaccines.

The government has noted that it needs to keep some doses handy once vaccine eligibility drops to people aged five to 12.

In situations where somebody needs to travel for essential purposes and needs a third dose, Meili can see additional shots being given on a case-by-case basis.

But for surplus doses, he would prefer to see them donated to poor countries that don’t have widespread access to vaccines.

“There’s people all over the world right now that are really struggling, suffering in South Africa and India in many places that have been hit very hard, that don’t have access to vaccines,” Meili said.

He noted that vaccine inequity is not just unfair but poses a risk here as well.

“That’s not okay from a global justice point of view. It’s also dangerous for us here at home, as we’ve seen with the Delta variant emerging in India,” he said. “That’s how we will see (COVID-19) to be an ongoing global threat.”