Thread by @TheBreakdownAB

From the DM’s...

As an update to our thread yesterday on inconsistent vaccine administration, here’s what we’ve learned.

To start with, the criteria for who gets shots and when seems to vary wildly from location to location.

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#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

We have heard multiple reasons why “expired” vaccine is being available. Missed appointments, extra doses out of vials, vaccine becoming expired because of time out of refrigeration just being a few.

But there is excess vaccine available.

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While it appears that many pharmacies are following guidelines & trying to ensure that near-expired vaccine is being given to people in groups 2B or who are also at higher risk, one thing is clear.

It is also being given to people who are healthy/have no health conditions.

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How do we know this?

Since posting our original tweet yesterday we have been inundated with DM’s from people confirming this has been happening. Healthy young people at no occupational risk have been able to get the vaccine simply through, as many have put it, dumb luck.

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This was also confirmed before our tweet by a Global News story that we (and apparently many others) were unaware of. Some pharmacies are providing shots to people regardless of any guidelines.

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Here’s a few points that we want to be very clear on.

We absolutely do not want to see any vaccine go to waste.

We also absolutely recognize that there are many with invisible chronic health conditions that are at higher risk of serious outcome because of COVID.

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We do not believe that anyone should be bullied because circumstance placed them in a position where they had to choose between getting a shot or watching it go into the garbage.

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What we are very curious and concerned about it how this very predictable problem (it happened as well during the initial vaccine roll out) did not have a consistent plan in place to ensure that those highest at risk were “moved up” when more shots became available.

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We’re curious why some pharmacies are doing a great job of ensuring that people in 2B are contacted first, and others are paging over the intercom for anyone who wants their shot, well before closing hours.

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We’re curious why a waiting list exists that people can sign up for that has been so poorly publicized that many people are only now just finding out about it.

And we’re curious why teachers and HCW aren’t being prioritized.

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And on this last point, we want to be absolutely crystal clear.

We are not journalists.

We have been abundantly clear on that.

We are a group of concerned Albertans who use commentary/satire to raise awareness about politics and political issues in Alberta.

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There is a real fear of consequence from people who know that there is something wrong going on. Part (and only part) of what we strive to do is amplify their concerns when they fear that they can’t. We’re going to keep doing that.

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And here’s the bottom line. If you don’t like what we do or how we do it, don’t follow us. Don’t read what we post. Don’t support us on our Patreon page.

(Course if you do like what we do, we would love it if you did all of those things).

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Finally, we want to say thank you to everyone who has reached out over the last 24 hours to share their stories.

We also want to be clear that to our eyes, prioritizing vaccine distribution isn’t about creating division, it’s about trying to protect the most vulnerable.

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So if you know someone who by luck, got their shot early because a pharmacy is treating vaccination in the West like it’s the Wild West, don’t dogpile on them or belittle them.

But we absolutely believe that there’s nothing wrong with asking “How did we get here?”

/fin