This column is an opinion from Anila Lee Yuen, CEO of the Centre for Newcomers and co-chair of the provincial Calgary COVID care table.
Some online views I’ve read seem over the top; saying it’s Darwinism, that the unvaccinated deserve what they get.
For the past 16 months, as CEO of the Centre for Newcomers, I’ve been focused on helping some of Calgary’s hardest-hit communities get through the pandemic.
We know this because once we partnered with Alberta Health Services to hold walk-in, no appointment necessary vaccine outreach clinics in grocery stores and community hubs, our numbers significantly improved.
The East health zone is still trailing the rest of Calgary; only 71 per cent of residents age 12 and older have a first dose.
People across the city are confused by changing the information they hear from government officials, without realizing that as information is learned, it is updated and improved upon.
Maybe there are different times at the gym for unvaccinated people and requirements for some professions.
When I did the Hajj in 2003, I landed in Jeddah and had to show my immunization record with seven or eight vaccines.
I am a born and raised Calgarian; my extended family has been here since 1963, drawn by the promise of western hospitality, community spirit and a hometown feel.
This is the first time in my life that I have heard us collectively speak of death as a possible deserving punishment for anything, really, and it breaks my heart.
By submitting a comment, you accept that CBC has the right to reproduce and publish that comment in whole or in part, in any manner CBC chooses.