B.C.鈥檚 top doctor says people shouldn鈥檛 line up for possible leftover vaccines, 鈥渦nless you have been asked to come.鈥�

In Thursday鈥檚 (April 8) briefing from provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix, she said 鈥渢here鈥檚 a plan with every clinic for every dose,鈥� depending on who鈥檚 there, how many doses are drawn up and how many doses are thawed 鈥渟o that we can use up every dose鈥� when asked about people who are lining up in the hopes of getting a vaccine.

鈥淭here (are) people who are on standby to come in and be booked in if there鈥檚 no-shows, if it looks like there鈥檚 going to be doses at the end of the day,鈥� Henry added.

This comes after a teacher in New Westminster, Sheelagh Brothers, posted on Twitter on April 6 that teachers were standing in line at a clinic in Surrey in the hopes of getting a vaccine.

鈥淭he catch: we don鈥檛 teach in Surrey. There are no clinics set up yet in New West, 91原创, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Vancouver. They have vaccines here. We鈥檇 like some protection please,鈥� her tweet reads.

These are all teachers standing in line at a clinic in Surrey, hoping to get a . The catch: we don't teach in Surrey. There are no clinics set up yet in New West, 91原创, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Vancouver. They have vaccines here. We'd like some protection please.

鈥� Sheelagh Brothers (@SheeBrothers)

B.C. Ministry of Health spokesperson Marielle Tounsi said in an emailed statement to Black Press Media that 鈥渋n order to minimize any wastage at end of day, pharmacists are encouraged to vaccinate any age-eligible patients with remaining doses.鈥�

Brothers told the Now-Leader she first received a message from a colleague last Friday (April 2) that they had gone and managed to get a leftover vaccine. By the time she got there, she was unable to get a vaccine.

She tried again April 6 at a different vaccine clinic in Surrey.

鈥淏y the time I got to the location, I was told the rules had changed,鈥� said Brothers. 鈥淔or some reason, somehow, somebody got word you could get a shot and they were successful.

鈥淭he word is spreading rapidly.鈥�

Brothers said it鈥檚 鈥渁 little frustrating鈥� as her husband has two auto-immune diseases and is high risk.

鈥淚t matters if I bring it home. Not that it doesn鈥檛 matter to anybody, but he鈥檚 at a much higher risk,鈥� said Brothers, adding her husband has since received his first dose which 鈥渢akes away a tiny bit of fear.鈥�

RELATED: , April 9, 2021

Henry said there are plans for any potential leftover doses, adding 鈥渨e will be targeting the people who can鈥檛 work from home, our frontline workers program will be getting going again over and above the outbreak response that we continue to do.鈥�

鈥淧lease don鈥檛 line up. I am reassured by my colleagues across the province that there are plans and the plans often involve things like taking any end of day doses to the emergency department, to the hospital to a local place where we know that there鈥檚 a need still.鈥�

RELATED: , March 20, 2021

RELATED: , March 18, 2021

In March, the province announced K-12 educators would be included in vaccine priority groups.

Within a few days, Surrey school district superintendent Jordan Tinney announced all Surrey K-12 school-based staff would be the first of the priority groups to be vaccinated, starting March 24.

The hope was all Surrey educators would have their first dose by April 1.

READ ALSO: , March 22, 2021

Ritinder Matthew, Surrey school district spokesperson, said that between the Surrey school district and independent schools, 10,919 staff had been vaccinated by end of day April 4. The 鈥渧ast majority鈥� of those were Surrey school district staff.

She added there is 鈥渟till a few additional staff鈥� that need to be vaccinated, but the 鈥渘umbers are really small.鈥�

Matthew noted 鈥渁 lot of people wanted to get immunized,鈥� adding that staff were very excited and thankful to be included.

Brothers said she hasn鈥檛 heard any other news about when those mentioned in the priority groups will be vaccinated.

鈥淚 was very excited to hear K-12 education staff was on that list,鈥� she said, but added there has since been 鈥渧ery little communication, if any,鈥� since the AstraZeneca vaccine was taken off the table for the priority groups.

Since Surrey has been 鈥渉it super hard鈥� by the virus, Brothers said she was 鈥渢hrilled鈥� to hear Surrey educators would be getting vaccinations.

But she added there are 鈥渓ots of there schools in Fraser Health that have a fair number of cases.鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檙e anxious. I鈥檓 anxious.鈥�

lauren.collins@surreynowleader.com
Like us on Follow us on and follow Lauren on