Alberta’s new health minister Jason Copping, responded Wednesday to an open letter sent last week by AHS workers who are against forced vaccination..Copping rejected the group’s claims stating health care workers “have a paramount obligation to protect patients, especially the sickest and most vulnerable patients who are in hospital or continuing care.”.“My bigger concern is the message the letter sends to the 630,000 Albertans who are eligible to be vaccinated but haven’t yet done so. I think most of them are sincerely uncertain and looking for guidance, and I’m deeply concerned the letter could influence some of them to choose not to be vaccinated.”.Copping says claims in the letter are misleading or incorrect and encourages citizens to listen to chief medical officer of health, Dr. Hinshaw or other health-care professionals and scientists who support vaccination..“The letter says COVID-19 vaccines have not been proven to prevent transmission of the virus. That’s patently misleading. You can still get sick and transmit the virus even if you’re fully vaccinated. But it’s far less likely – and if you do still get sick, it’s far less likely to be serious,” said Copping..“Furthermore, recent data from the United Kingdom shows that two doses of vaccine are estimated to give 79 per cent protection against symptomatic COVID and 96 per cent protection against hospitalization. This includes the Delta variant.”.Pointing to a recent Reuters article to debunk the groups’ claims of breakthrough infection rates among the vaccinated in Israel, Copping notes that “severe breakthrough cases are being seen mostly in immunocompromised and older patients who simply have a less robust immune response from the vaccines.”.Copping makes reference to boosters being offered to vulnerable Albertans and says AHS is still encouraging people to choose vaccinations as a way to reduce community spread so that vulnerable Albertans are protected..Speaking to the group’s concerns about natural immunity being ignored, Copping confirms that natural immunity comes with COVID-19 infections, “but we don’t know how much or how long it lasts. What we do know is that you have much more protection if you also get immunized, even if you’ve been infected.”.Copping’s rebuttal to the group also addresses their concerns around vaccine injuries, pointing out that the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) data is misleading and says it is not reviewed by medical professionals..Highlighting the Government of Canada’s reporting system for medical issues after vaccination, Copping said out of the 16,090 individual reports only 4,288 were considered serious..“The bottom line is that it remains your choice whether to be vaccinated – for yourself and for your kids, if you’re a parent. Getting vaccinated helps protects you and the people around you,” Copping said and again encouraged people to base their decision to be vaccinated on good information and advice from health-care professionals..“We’re in a crisis due to our low vaccination rate, and the one sure way out of it is for more of us to get vaccinated.”.Melanie Risdon is a reporter with the Western Standard.,.mrisdon@westernstandardonline.com
