Although COVID-19 cases are down slightly in Alberta, two doctors who treat patients in rural areas say a fifth wave could be inevitable if people in those communities do not get vaccinated at a faster rate.
Provincial data shows that 78.3 percent of eligible Albertans overall, including those aged 12 and older, are fully immunized and 86.4 percent have received at least one injection.
But in at least 19 of 63 municipalities in northern and southern Alberta, on average, 55 percent of residents rolled up their sleeves for a single dose. In some of those areas it is less than 40%.
According to an update Monday from the Alberta Health Services, there are a total of 271 Alberta patients in intensive care.
There are 821 people hospitalized due to COVID-19. Of the 182 COVID patients in intensive care, 87.3% are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.
Dr Raman Kumar, family doctor at Maxwell Medical in Fort McMurray, Alta., Says rural population is overrepresented in overwhelmed intensive care units “simply because there has been more vaccine hesitation” among them.
“For example, here in Fort McMurray, we’ve had significant issues with our intensive care units full of patients and we are transporting our patients to other communities,” Kumar said.
“We had seven nurses from Newfoundland [to Fort McMurray during the fourth wave], therefore COVID has certainly been a major and major problem for rural communities. “
In High Level, one of Alberta’s northernmost municipalities, 23% of residents have received at least their first dose of the vaccine.
The number is 39 percent in Forty Mile County in the south and 40 percent in Two Hills County in east-central Alberta.
If we don’t achieve higher vaccination rates in some areas, we risk a fifth wave and a sixth wave due to ongoing transmission.– Finola Hackett, family doctor
On average, 55% of Albertans living in Manning, Peace River, Fairview, Spirit River, St. Paul and Lethbridge County received their first dose.
“If we don’t achieve higher immunization rates in some areas, we risk a fifth wave and a sixth wave due to ongoing transmission,” said Dr. Finola Hackett, a rural family physician working at Pincher Creek.
“As we saw with Wave Four, a low vaccination rate did not protect against COVID and Delta variants, so there is a higher risk in some rural areas.”
Hackett and Kumar state that three main factors contribute to low vaccine consumption in rural communities.
“I call them the three Cs,” Hackett said.
“There is complacency, convenience, and then the third being conspiracy.”
A “pandemic of disinformation”
Hackett said complacency was visible among some “especially younger” Albertans in rural communities who told him they didn’t want to be vaccinated because they thought they were in good health.
She said she told them the vaccine not only protected them from the virus, but also reduced the risk of transmission to others with compromised immunity.
Convenience is about accessibility.
“The government and other partners are sending mobile clinics to some rural areas, which has helped… but there are still pockets of those who might have problems with it. [transportation]. “
The third C and the most common reason rural Albertans don’t get vaccinated is the “disinformation pandemic,” Hackett said.
“Sometimes … a small, tight-knit community shares misinformation that spreads quickly,” she said. “Some rural areas, which tend to be more conservative, are more suspicious of any government program.”
Hackett and Kumar said they met several patients in rural Alberta, sometimes multiple times, and persuaded them to get the vaccine.
“I just don’t think acting on frustration or polarization gets us anywhere, as hard as finding that patience and energy to empathetically understand why someone is reluctant to get vaccinated,” Hackett said.
A new campaign
Doctors said they are helping launch a new campaign in rural Alberta through a national multidisciplinary coalition called 19 to Zero that works to change public perceptions of COVID-19 behaviors and build confidence in vaccines.
The campaign titled “It’s Never Too Late” features a video shot in an Alberta hospital. It shows a person breathing heavily as they are assessed and admitted to intensive care for intubation.
“I just want to tell Albertans, what the heck, get vaccinated,” Kumar said.
“Let’s go back to a normal life, and the way we can do that is to get shot at all of us.”
This story was produced with financial assistance from Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship, who is not involved in the editorial process.
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