Jordan Power wants to make it clear, he is not an antivaccine.
He mentioned: “I decided to get my first two vaccines, because I didn’t want to put my grandparents at risk, or one of my best friends who’s battling brain cancer right now.”
But he’s holding back on getting the booster, believing as a young, healthy person, his risk of serious illness is low.
“And I’m definitely a conscious person when it comes to really anything that I put into my body, especially something that I may not consider like natural right off the bat.” Said by Power, “but at the end of the day, like I’m not a scientist, or I’m not a doctor.”
And he’s not alone, despite the urgency of many to get boosters. more than 500,000 people in B.C. have received an invite for a third shot and have not responded.
“It’s an issue across the country, and it’s not just people questioning vaccines.” said by science communicator Krishana Sankar who educates people about them.
“A lot of people are starting to feel again the fatigue and exhaustion of just dealing with Covid. And for that reason wanting to know why now they need to go get a third dose.”
Health officials urge people to get the booster to help prevent transmission and serious illness.
B.C. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said: “What’s not just about getting through this wave. It’s that booster dose we now think is going to give us protection for whatever comes next in this pandemic.”
For those on board, there are mixed feelings about booster hold outs.
A woman who has already been vaccinated said: “Well, I can understand why they feel that way, but I have no regrets at all that we went to got our third dose. Just feel a little bit more protected.”
It’s also something Jordan Power admits he will likely do.
He said: “It’s really just a matter of waiting and kind of seeing how things play out. And obviously, if the government starts forcing people to take it, I don’t really have much of a choice.”
As the pandemic carries on, officials hope more people will see the benefit of the booster.
Resource: CBC News