All members of Flin Flon’s city council and administration have received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose - now, they’re hoping the rest of the community takes the same step.
Mayor Cal Huntley pleaded with the public to receive their shots during council’s May 4 council meeting, saying he had received an AstraZeneca first dose and had no ill effects.
“If you look at legitimate information around the risk and reward, common sense says you should get the vaccine. I know people are going to argue with me about that and take offense to that position, but that is my position. I’ve had the AstraZeneca and I will get the second one when I can and that’s how we’re going to get forward,” said Huntley.
Vaccinations are available at pop-up clinics at the Flin Flon Community Hall, where first doses of Moderna vaccines have been given at various different dates over the past two months. Four other dates for pop-up clinics have been given for May 13, 14, 20 and 21, each of which will be held as walk-in clinics - no appointment necessary.
“We've been lobbying for a long time with regards to vaccinations and the whole nine yards. We have some clinics coming up very shortly,” Huntley said.
“I really, really do encourage everyone in the community to take advantage of it if you can get it.”
Huntley - who in addition to being the mayor, is also the chair of the board for the Northern Health Region - said that in order to kill off COVID-19, at least 70 per cent of the population needs to be fully vaccinated with first and second doses. Flin Flon is sitting at around 58 per cent of eligible people (all people age 18 and over) with at least one dose.
“We need to be over 70 per cent. We thought with opening it up to the 18 and over, that there would be a mass rush. We do understand the difficulty with regard to phone in and making appointments and I know the NHR is trying to address that by lobbying the government to make walk-up clinics because the walk-up clinic that we did was very, very successful. We believe the uptake would be better if we were doing that,” Huntley said.
“The important thing here is if you can get the shot, get the shot.”
Other council members also spoke up about the vaccine, mentioning their own experiences and conversations. Councillor Tim Babcock received a first dose of AstraZeneca and was hit hard by side effects, but still recommends the shot to everyone able to get it.
“I had my first shot two weeks ago and I got every side effect in the book - but I’m still here and every side effect is still better than me or somebody that I love getting COVID-19,” he said.
Karen MacKinnon said that misinformation about the vaccine may have played a role in holding up the vaccine’s rollout, but also recommended that people get their doses.
“I had someone say to me the other day, ‘I don’t know if the vaccine even works and even if it does work, we still have to wear a mask.’ I said, ‘Yes, the vaccine does work,’ and it's not just for you - it's for your loved ones. It's for your friends. Yes, you will have to wear a mask, but the more people don't get vaccinated, the longer we will have to keep wearing the masks. It's a very, very important thing to do,” she said.
Eligibility in northern Manitoba is also open to people who work in the NHR, even if they don’t live there - meaning that people in Creighton, Denare Beach and other communities in Saskatchewan whose work brings them into Manitoba can also receive doses in Flin Flon. Saskatchewan also recently lowered their vaccination criteria to include all northern residents over age 18 - the same as northern Manitoba’s eligibility. Councillor Ken Pawlachuk said the lowering for northern communities provides all adults a chance for a shot.
“I was in a meeting the other day on Zoom and the leader was encouraging even people in Saskatchewan that can take part in this because of the age - even 18 year olds in Saskatchewan can get it. It’s a shame not to use it,” he said.
Huntley said that receiving vaccinations will ultimately help the community move past COVID-19 and end health restrictions and public health orders put in place during the crisis - but in the meantime, those rules should be followed to cut down on possible spread.
“Not only are you protecting yourself, after we get a certain amount done, we’re protecting each other. It's very, very important we do this - none of us like this lockdown, all of us are feeling the mental stress that's going along with the rules that are in place right now. In my mind, it’s going to change when we hit herd immunity and to do that, we have to take advantage of vaccinations when they’re there,” he said.
“I know everybody's struggling. There's a lot of mental stress out there right now. It just kind of compounds. We’ve probably noticed ourselves and our tempers being a little shorter than they should be… it’s taking its toll, whether we realize it or not. We have to follow the rules if we want to get through this. Having your first shot is a big step moving forward. I encourage everybody to do that, but we still need to follow the rules.”
