Opinion: it’s time for a new strategy to reach the non-empty

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As Alberta grapples with the fourth wave, our government claims they have “left no stone unturned” to address the vaccination gap that is driving the spread of the community and the collapse of our healthcare system. Some have suggested that the unvaccinated are responsible for this crisis. This narrative not only mischaracterizes many unvaccinated people, but ignores the structural and social barriers that prevent us from achieving the 85-90% total vaccination of the population that we need for herd immunity against the Delta variant.

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Not all the unvaccinated are anti-vaccines protesting in front of hospitals. The reasons for remaining unvaccinated are wide-ranging and often a systemic failure, not an individual one. We cannot hope for a single solution. The new restriction waiver program will motivate some people, but it must be accompanied by greater outreach, education, and access to vaccines to ensure it doesn’t widen already significant equity gaps in getting a vaccine.

Unilaterally firing the unvaccinated is detrimental to the division. It further strengthens and minimizes the many barriers to vaccination, leaving a number of vaccination stones unturned. When the unvaccinated are blamed for the current state of the health care system, they feel immediate and overwhelming shame. Many are not opposed to vaccination, but have encountered barriers or doubts or misinformation about getting vaccinated. By framing this as an us vs. We must reduce the inflammatory language to reformulate the narrative.

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Consider the recent tragic single mothers who didn’t have time to get vaccinated and pay with their lives. Those deaths were preventable. Unpredictable and overloaded schedules, a lack of paid time off in the event of vaccine side effects, a lack of communication about the urgency of getting vaccinated, and the long 18 months of a pandemic have left single parents without the ability to add or one more task to your endless to-do lists.

Consider the caregivers of our medically fragile populations. For many, the hours of rest are few and are used for basic self-care and the activities most essential to maintaining a family and a home. Using the limited hours to find out how to access a vaccine, particularly when there are language and technology barriers, may not be a reasonable option. Also, consider those who find leaving home challenging for a variety of health-related reasons; that trip to a vaccination site can pose many physical and social barriers to access.

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The way we support a pregnant person in Edmonton who is anxious about persistent rumors on social media is not going to be the same for a middle-aged woman in rural Alberta who is surrounded by relentless and loud misinformation about the vaccine of their peers or newborns. Immigrant arrived without Alberta health care card, without Internet access, and with limited or no English. More than anything, we need patience, persistence, and flexibility to find and execute the support that will help people get vaccinated.

Barriers can and must be addressed. It should be as seamless as possible for community organizations to organize pop-up clinics where they can directly support their communities to get vaccinated. Their community relationships, knowledge and trust empower them to help their community. Many also offer culturally competent and language-specific information to newcomers to Canada and those who do not speak English.

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It is incomprehensible that vaccines are difficult to access when vaccination is more crucial than ever. We should no longer focus on mass vaccination; We must shift our strategy to highly effective targeted and personalized care to help people with barriers to get vaccinated.

Vaccine misinformation is rampant, especially in parts of Alberta. People who are not fundamentally opposed to the vaccine are scared, do not know who to trust, and are overwhelmed by the relentless messages from their peers. We need to work with trusted voices in these communities to address this misinformation and provide safe and non-judgmental spaces for genuine concerns. We must find people who want credible information and who are currently overwhelmed by bad-mouthing people.

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The costs to close the unvaccinated gap seem quite small compared to the enormous health system costs of this fourth wave. The Canadian Institute for Health Information published last week that “the estimated average cost of a hospital stay for COVID-19 in Canada is $ 23,111, four times the average cost of a hospital stay for influenza, three times the average cost of a stay for a heart attack and almost as much as a kidney transplant. “Costs will be further increased by the attention deficit created by delayed surgical cancellations / diagnostic procedures and prolonged COVID. These costs, both in terms human suffering and stress in the health system, are predictable and avoidable.

Let us be clear that accountability does not lead solely and directly to our unvaccinated population. Our community needs information and action, not blame. A hands-on approach is required to deliver vaccines to those in our community who need support to access them.

Sarah Mackey is a member of Vax Hunters Alberta @ab_vax

Cheryl Mack, MD, is vice president of the Edmonton Area Medical Personnel Association.

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Reference-edmontonjournal.com

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