Seniors will not have to travel to get immunized – that was according to Premier John Horgan who made that comment during Monday’s announcement about phase two of the province’s COVID-19 immunization plan.
Well it would seem that North Delta seniors, at least, will in fact be travelling to get their shot in the arm and that will be in Surrey.
South Deltans, I bet, would be outraged if they would have to travel to say, Richmond to get their vaccine.
Delta Mayor George Harvie wrote to Horgan Monday with his concerns that a vaccination site has not been chosen for North Delta.
Harvie points out that North Delta represents the largest percentage of Delta’s population, that the City of Delta is not well served by transit and that every opportunity should be made available locally for residents to get the vaccine.
We do know that a location has been secured in South Delta, details of which are forthcoming in the next week or so, and Harvie, along with City Manager Sean McGill, who I interviewed last Friday on Eastlink TV’s On Topic, confirmed that Delta staff have toured a number of locations in both South and North Delta with Fraser Health, so why is it that no location will be offered in North Delta?
That very question was raised in the Legislature during Question Period Tuesday by interim Liberal leader Shirley Bond.
Horgan’s answer to her question, “with respect to the Mayor of Delta, we’ll take that under consideration, but the member (Bond) will know that if you live in North Delta you are right beside Surrey. It is a different community, but it is the same community for commerce, for shopping, for social interaction. Perhaps a geography lesson would be in order here.”
What a flippant thing to say, Mr. Horgan.
Vaccine sites should be located in every community of this province and available for all.
A geography lesson? Mr. Horgan it is you who should be checking out a map and re-think this plan, because this one is a disservice to seniors in our community.
