Some people have been travelling to other jurisdictions to get their COVID vaccine, whether it’s non-Chatham-Kent residents coming here or locals heading elsewhere.
It can be seen as queue-jumping, or using up resources meant for that specific community, but Chatham-Kent’s top doctor doesn’t necessarily agree.
“If they’re eligible, we’re not going to turn them away,” Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby says. “There’s going to be give and take when it comes to that, people who live near the border of a jurisdiction may find it more convenient to go to someplace near their workplace and get vaccinated.”
The Ministry of Health has vowed to make up any shortfalls in vaccine supply that comes as a result of people moving across borders.
Dr. Colby has warned in the past about people moving between jurisdictions and the risks associated with it in terms of spreading the virus. But he says increasing immunization rates is a different scenario.
“People from outside our borders we’ve seen in the past can be the triggers for outbreaks here. So this is not about circling the wagons and making sure only Chatham-Kent people are beneficiaries, we want everyone in Ontario to get vaccinated.
