Today is presser day. As always, here are some suggestions for media questions. Thanks again to @ab_vax for the help!
1. The AMA section of EM sent a letter yesterday inviting the Premier and Health minister to an ICU. Will you be accepting this invitation? /1
2. NB has instituted a circuit breaker as restrictions on Thanksgiving gatherings. Why won't AB's gov't follow suit?
3. At home rapid test programs are being implemented in schools in ON, QC, and NS, but AHS is putting barriers in place for AB schools to do the same. Why? /2
4. The EPSB and ECSB will both be requiring employees be fully vaxxed. Will you be encouraging other school boards across AB to follow suit?
5. How will the contact tracers from the federal government be used? Will the be used for schools? /3
6. What is your response to the call for a #FirebreakAB and for ventilation stds in classrooms by @EPSBNews? Will you support these requests?
7. For LeGrange: As the education minister during a pandemic, how do you respond to a school board trustee spreading misinformation? /4
8. Is AHS tracking the number of surgeries postponed and poor outcomes secondary to this?
9. Will you start reporting the new ICU admissions, ICU discharges, and ICU deaths, instead of net ICU change? /5
10. Why do you cont to rely on vaccinations, which take wks to have an effect, to get us out of this immediate threat to our HC system functioning? When will you do the right thing and have a #FirebreakAB?
11. Does having a negative swab protect you from getting COVID for 72h?/6
12. You've continuously states schools are safe and not a significant source of transmission. How do you explain 70 cases in 1 week at Westglen school (>20% of students), in an area where there's an 80% vaxx rate? /7
How did we get to this point - where our ICUs are at over 170% capacity? Where were are preparing to fly pts 1000s of km away?
Where were are not only talking about triaging adult ICU care, but pediatric ICU care? This makes me feel sick. /1
HCWs think about COVID every waking hour (if we are managing to sleep), whether we are at work or not. This is consuming us. We are seeing our system collapse before our eyes. Everyday, a step closer to doing something we never thought would be asked of us. /2
When we dedicated our careers to healthcare, we thought we would be saving lives, not choosing who lives and who doesn’t.
The moral distress is sometimes debilitating and it will only get worse as we have to make these choices.
Two pressers today, so a lot to cover for media question suggestions. Thanks to @ab_vax and others for help!
It's a long one today.
1. Did a group of cabinet ministers threaten to resign in order to force a PICC meeting last week before restrictions were announced? /1
2. Premier, you’ve said that with AB’s COVID response the buck stops with you. Do you continue take full responsibility for the disastrous response of the previous health minister? If so, why aren't you resigning? /2
3. Why is @RicMcIver asking for Federal support instead of @jkenney? Why did this request not come last week when it was known that we needed help, instead of conveniently the day after a contentious election where many CPC seats in AB were at risk of being lost? /3
Another presser, another list of question suggestions (with lots of help). Here we go!
1. If proof of vaccination is the only measure you are introducing, what do you pan to do to drastically and rapidly expand access to vaccines in rural areas with the lowest vacs rates? /1
2. What do you plan to do to immediately get the situation under control in the 6 weeks until a proof of vaccination mandate shows any effect on hospitalizations?
3. How will the measures be enforced in areas where people believe it's their right to refuse to comply? /2
4. Why is the so called "vaccine passport" still voluntary (assuming @CTVCalgary's reporting on this is accurate)?
5. Why are only restaurants included in the proof of vaccination requirement?
6. Why are only restaurants included in the proof of vaccination requirement? /3
Thread time again - my thoughts on the current state of affairs in #ab
1. Elective surgeries being delayed to make capacity - remember that elective doesn't mean not needed. This includes CANCER surgeries and other serious surgeries that are scheduled (hence, "elective"). /1
2. It's been almost 1 week since the $100 vaccine incentive - the dial has barely moved. I don't think anyone is surprised.
3. Vaccines won't save us now (they'll hopefully save us later). If someone gets vaxxed today, it's a minimum of 6 wks until they are fully protected. /2
4. Hospital capacity affects every single Albertan who needs care. This is NOT a "pandemic of the unvaxxed," because when beds are tight, anyone needing acute care (for any reason) is affected. As above, it means cancelled surgeries for those who need them. /3
Thread time. I’m going to lay out all of the major concerns I have with the current state of affairs.
1. Well, we are in wave 4. The wave of delta. A more transmissible and virulent virus. We are seeing a rapid rise in cases and people getting sicker, especially the unvaxxed. /1
2. Not enough people are vaxxed. Our kids aren’t even eligible. Some parts of AB have barely 20% double vaxxed. Those same places have very high case numbers and high percent positivity (ex. 20% in the north zone). There is no new effort to increase vaxx rates. /2
3. Many unvaxxed pts I speak with are not anti-vaxxers. They are facing multiple social barriers to access vaccines. The province is not adjusting or ramping up its PH response to address this vaccination disparity, yet have stated that vaccines are what they are counting on. /3
Waking up to multiple media requests after a long shift last night. Almost happy that I was sleeping and couldn’t respond, because I really just don’t know what to say anymore.
It’s clear that this government has decided they just don’t care about any of us. /1
They don’t care that our children will get sick. They don’t care that they’re gambling with the lives/livelihoods of Albertans. All they are focused on is “the economy.” Well, there is no economy without PEOPLE who are functional and alive. There’s no future without our KIDS. /2
They don’t care that HCWs haven’t recovered after over a year of hell. That the patients just keep coming and the resources keep shrinking. That’s without more COVID cases - what will we even do if those start rising again? We are dispensable to them. All of us. /3