Maybe you’ve lined up for MusicFest. Maybe you’ve line up for the Filberg Festival. But have you ever lined up to get a needle?
On Quadra Island this week, people are lining up around the rec centre to get their Covid shot. The clinic is part of Island Health’s “whole community strategy”, where they visit small, remote places and vaccinate everyone who wants it all at the same time.
Quadra is one of the last places in the region to get a clinic like this. Places like Tahsis, Zeballos, and Kyoquot all got vaccinated back in March.
Even people who don’t like needles are excited to get this one. Quadra resident Kirstie Stewart told the National Observer that she doesn’t really like needles, but she was “overwhelmingly excited to get life back to where it was”.
Connie Elford told the National Observer, “I really feel like we should be celebrating. I’ve never been more happy to have a needle in my arm.” She said that even though the vaccine makes her want to do a dance in the middle of the street, she is still going to be careful. “I’m still keeping my distance and being respectful of other people.”
Cases on Vancouver Island are coming down and vaccinations are going up, which is great news. But we still have to be good about wearing masks and keeping our distance while everyone gets the jab. We’re still in the in the middle of the third wave. In a COVID briefing on Monday, Health Minister Adrian Dix said we have to stay focused: “We can’t have one foot on the gas and one foot on the brake.”
