To help boost Richmond’s vaccination rate, three local MLAs are collaborating with medical professionals to host a virtual town hall meeting on June 9.
Until recently, the vaccination rate among Richmondites aged 50 and older had been trailing other municipalities in the Lower Mainland, according to data from BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC).
While the regional average was 80 percent, it was only 76 per cent in Richmond.
That gap appears to be closing, but Richmond South Centre MLA Henry Yao wants to ensure the trend continues.
“We are glad to work with the Ministry of Health to conduct a series of initiatives and to set up this town hall meeting. We saw this meeting as a great opportunity to collaborate with our medical professionals to provide the most accurate answers to our constituents,” said Yao.
Yao told the Richmond News that most people he has spoken to support vaccination. However, there are some voices in the community questioning its safety.
Yao, along with fellow NDP MLAs Kelly Greene (Richmond Steveston) and Aman Singh (Richmond-Queensborough) will host the Wednesday meeting along with Dr. Meena Dewar, Richmond’s medical health officer and UBC professor Kendall Ho.
Yao and his colleagues have also been active in promoting vaccination on their official social media platforms. Singh even made a TikTok video about this issue.
“He (Singh) is the oldest among the three of us, but he is the youngest at heart,” laughed Yao, adding that Singh’s video work is “phenomenal.”
The MLA’s social media campaign may be having an impact as the vaccination rate in Richmond has been ramping in recent weeks, according to B.C.’s Minister of Health Adrian Dix.
“In communities such as Richmond…we have seen very significant uptake in immunizations over the last week,” said Dix at the June 3 COVID-19 press conference.
As of June 3, 67 per cent of Richmond residents over the age of 18 had received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to the BCCDC.
This puts Richmond on par with the rest of the Lower Mainland, with other cities reporting vaccination coverage between 61 to 80 per cent for this age group.
However, vaccination coverages varies across the city. Richmond City Centre is reporting the lowest vaccination coverage -- 63 per cent. In comparison, the highest vaccination coverage is in Steveston at 77 per cent.
People who cannot join the meeting are welcome to send their questions to their MLAs’ offices.
For more information, visit tinyurl.com/3abdns8b.
