'Complacency, convenience, conspiracy': Rural Albertans overrepresented in hospitals
CBC
Although COVID-19 cases are slightly declining in Alberta, two doctors who treat patients from rural areas say a fifth wave may be inevitable if people in those communities do not get vaccinated at a faster pace.
Provincial data says 78.3 per cent of eligible Albertans overall, including those who are 12 and older, are fully vaccinated and 86.4 per cent have had at least one shot.
But in at least 19 out of 63 municipalities in northern and southern Alberta, on average, 55 per cent of residents have rolled up their sleeves for just one dose. In some of those areas, that rate is less than 40 per cent.
According to an update Monday from Alberta Health Services, there are a total of 271 Alberta patients in ICU.
There are 821 people in hospital due to COVID-19. Of the 182 COVID patients in ICU, 87.3 per cent are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.
Dr. Raman Kumar, a family doctor at Maxwell Medical in Fort McMurray, Alta., says the rural population is overrepresented in overwhelmed intensive care units "simply because of the fact that there has been more vaccine hesitancy" among them.
"For example, here in Fort McMurray, we've had significant issues with our intensive care units being full of patients and we transport our patients to other communities," said Kumar.
"We had seven nurses come from Newfoundland [to Fort McMurray during the fourth wave], so COVID definitely has been a major, major problem for rural communities."
In High Level, one of the most northern municipalities in Alberta, 23 per cent of residents have had at least their first dose of vaccine.
The number is 39 per cent in the County of Forty Mile in the south and 40 per cent in Two Hills County in east-central Alberta.
On average, 55 per cent of Albertans living in Manning, Peace River, Fairview, Spirit River, St. Paul, and Lethbridge have had their first dose.
"If we don't achieve higher vaccination rates in some areas, we'll be at risk of a fifth wave and sixth wave because of the ongoing transmission," said Dr. Finola Hackett, a rural family health physician working in Pincher Creek.
"As we've seen with the fourth wave, a low vaccination rate did not protect from COVID and the Delta variants, so there's a higher risk for sure in some rural areas."
Hackett and Kumar say three main factors contribute to the low vaccine intake in rural communities.
This First Person column is the experience of Shannon Flaman, who lives in Red Deer, Alta. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.
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