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Letter to the Editor: We should not be hoarding COVID-19 vaccine

'How did a caring country like ours become so self-involved and myopic?'
COVID vaccine
Amid talk of third “booster” shots for those fully-vaccinated against COVID-19, "there are millions of truly vulnerable people around the globe who have no access to these vaccinations," a Whistler local writes.

COVID-19 has revealed a very ugly side effect that is showing up in wealthy Western countries: rampant selfishness.

As data and knowledge about this virus have developed over the last 18 months, it has become apparent that there are clearly identifiable cohorts of our society at risk of poor outcomes with the illness.

We now know that the very frail elderly, those with certain co-morbidities, and the obese, should exercise caution and so may choose to get a vaccine to help protect themselves.

In effect, at this point in time, anyone who wishes to get a COVID -19 vaccine has had the opportunity to do so, including children for whom the risk of severe illness is statistically zero.

In British Columbia, our Public Health agency has recently released data about who is vaccinated and who is not. The data demonstrates that the 20- to 49-year-old cohort is resisting vaccination. It seems likely that the next round of million-dollar marketing campaigns and coercion will be aimed at this group, even though the risk of severe illness and death are minimal in this age cohort.

Vaccines in the U.S., Canada and Europe are set to expire as the demand for them stalls, and now there is talk of third “booster” shots for the privileged of the world.

At the same time, there are millions of truly vulnerable people around the globe who have no access to these vaccinations.

How did a caring country like ours become so self-involved and myopic, so willing to unnecessarily hoard medical interventions that could provide genuine and generous assistance to the less fortunate?

Janet Nietvelt // Whistler