When Does Granny (and Grandpa) get the vaccine?

Guest Post by Ron Penney

I’m poppy to my grandchildren and at an age where the risk of an adverse result from a bout of covid is high. 

I’ve been taking all the precautions recommended by public health authorities and we are fortunate that the public health measures have worked so far. 

But the risk is still there until vaccines are widely administered and herd immunity is accomplished. Community spread still can occur despite our public health measures as we can see from New Brunswick, once part of the Atlantic Bubble. 

In the US, 8 out of 10 deaths from covid occur in people 65 and older. 

Compared to a comparison group of 18-29 in the US, those aged 65-74 (which includes me) have a 5 times higher risk of hospitalization and 90 times higher risk of death. The next group, age 75-84, have a 8 times higher risk of hospitalization and 220 times higher risk of death. And for those aged over 85, there is a 13 times higher risk of hospitalization and 630 times higher risk of death. 

There are also a range of other health conditions which cause additional risk for all age groups but as my fellow seniors know, it is the rare one of us who doesn’t have at least one of them.

We have the oldest population in Canada and the least healthy. 

Over 21% of us are 65 and older. 

So because of my age, with one underlying health condition that I know of which might place me at a greater risk, and given our demographics and poor health status, I was naturally curious as to when I, and my fellow seniors, might get the vaccine. 

You might have naturally thought , given the above, that we would have had a high priority for getting the vaccine, but with the exception of those of us 85 and older, you would be wrong. 

NL Chief Medical Officer of Health

The recommendations of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), on the prioritization of initial vaccines, published on the Government of Canada covid website, sets out the recommended priorities. 

Stage one includes residents and staff of congregate living spaces which care for seniors, those 70 and older in five year increments starting with those 80 and older, health care workers and indigenous communities. NACI noted “that there is a very large association of hospitalization and mortality particularly in those over 70 years of age” as the justification. 

Then I looked at our guidelines and was shocked to learn that, with the exception of those over 85, we seniors have no special priority. 

Phase one includes the same priorities as the NACI guidelines with one notable exception, those of us between 70 and 85. 

We aren’t even included in the phase two priorities, which include health care workers not included in phase one, essential workers, and residents and staff of other congregate living spaces. 

We are included in phase three along with the other members of the general public with no special priority. At this rate I expect to get my shot in September at the earliest based on the above! 

This didn’t make much sense to me so I reached out to public health officials. Their email addresses are well hidden so the closest I could find was their communications officer, who I emailed on December 23. Having received no response I sent her a reminder on January 6 and still no response. 

This is unfortunately typical of the public service of the province in my experience and that of other engaged citizens I am in contact with. With rare exceptions emails are never responded to or even acknowledged.

 I was a senior government official for many years and anyone who communicated with me received a timely acknowledgment and response. The word “public” in public servant meant something to me but the culture of the public service has certainly changed for the worse over the years. 

As a further example I have been following with interest the award of the contract for the public private partnership to construct the new mental health hospital and noticed there was a recent  technical briefing for the press, following controversy over the award. I asked for a copy of the technical briefing from the communications officer listed on the press release. As you will guess - no response. But I got it from another source! More on that later. 

We are now in the midst of an ill-advised provincial election, but the thing about we seniors is that we vote in large numbers and the most important issue on our minds is when do we get the vaccine.