Health care workers concerned about COVID-19 vaccine rollout

EDMONTON (660 NEWS) — Health care workers around Alberta are being urged to get COVID-19 vaccinations as soon as possible, with appointments opened up for this weekend.

But a series of tweets from Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw sent on Thursday sparked some heavy criticism online.

In response, some health care workers said they have encountered many issues in trying to book vaccination appointments, and others were worried her language made it sound like some staff were reluctant to get the vaccine.

Hinshaw followed up the tweets with another thread on Friday, to hopefully clear up some of the confusion.

Hinshaw said there was a technical glitch affecting vaccination bookings through the Alberta Health Services website and it should be fixed. She is hopeful all appointments can be filled through the weekend, and about 5,000 staff have signed up for the shots so far.

But even though the website glitch is apparently fixed, other issues are still being highlighted.

“A lot of chaos and miscommunication,” Danielle Larivee, First Vice-President of the United Nurses of Alberta, said. “Nurses who were eligible but hadn’t got the emails, or they were sent emails with invalid links to sign up, or sent text messages to re-book.

“Lots of concerns that there are people who are eligible and waiting and ready to receive, but the disorganization is preventing them from accessing that.”

Larivee said there is still a long way to go until the system runs more smoothly, and the responsibility lies at the feet of employers such as AHS.

“They’re responsible for knowing which one of their staff are eligible, for identifying them, for putting them on the list and for making sure they’re notified.”

The issues around Hinshaw’s language appearing to imply a reluctance among health care workers to get the vaccine also caused some worry for Larivee.

She said this could not be further from the truth, and there is a lot of excitement among members of the UNA.

“Far more excited than they ever expected, to have an incredibly strong sense of relief when they’ve had the chance to go in there. They’re desperate to get it,” she said. “They really want to get this, and it’s frustrating and confusing.”

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