MLA Jennifer Rice updates Legislature on 'incredible undertaking' of the Prince Rupert Vaccination program

As Prince Rupert moved into day four of its community wide COVID vaccination program on Wednesday, North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice provided a report on how it has all gone so far for the members of the British Columbia Legislature.

With the MLA participating remotely from the North Coast, she made use of her time in the Wednesday afternoon session to outline some of the background towards the need for the clinic in the Prince Rupert are for the members of the House.

As well, Ms. Rice took advantage of her opportunity to offer her praise for the work of Northern Health and clinic organizers and volunteers who have helped to make for a seamless process for the most part when it comes to booking appointments and getting the first of what will be two doses of COVID-19 vaccine. 

Today I'd like to acknowledge an incredible undertaking going on right now in Prince Rupert — a mass immunization program. 

After an entire year with some of the lowest COVID-19 numbers in the province, Prince Rupert was recently hit hard and fast with the virus. A plan was mobilized to vaccinate every adult who wants a vaccine in a city of 12,000. Just yesterday over 1,300 residents were vaccinated. We are well on our way to stopping the spread. 

This massive undertaking requires a huge team, and I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge the hard work of so many. Please know that you are seen and appreciated, even if you are not named here. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. 

Thank you to Julia Pemberton, Kim Hughes, Nyla Bedford, Leanne Cunningham, Tamara Checklea and the rest of the Northern Health team who worked to put the whole event together, Tamara Meyer, Jesse Sayles and the First Nations Health Authority team, St. Johns Ambulance and the entire BCCDC team. 

Special mention to Shalla McCarthy, Michelle Pele, Andrea Lorette, Carol Lindsey, Cindy Milken, Prince Rupert physicians, Rosa Miller and the city of Prince Rupert, the district of Port Edward, School district 52 and the grade 12 students of Charles Hays Secondary, Stuck-on Designs and all the local businesses who made donations, Alex Campbell, who blessed the clinic on behalf of the nine allied tribes of the Coast Tsimshian People, and the hundreds of volunteers who are helping keep the clinic moving smoothly every day. 

Lastly, I'd like to thank my colleague the Honourable Minister of Health for the understanding and quick deployment of resources to carry this enormous feat out. 

I'm grateful to each and every one of you for the part you're playing in protecting our community. 

Thank you.

You can review her presentation to the Legislature from the House Video of the Wednesday afternoon session, with Ms. Rice posting her comments to her Facebook page. 

The vaccination clinic is taking place in the Auditorium of the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre, with a large group of the clinic team on hand to ensure your experience is as trouble free as possible. 

From check in to vaccination and on to the follow up waiting period, the entire process takes less than half an hour in most cases and has served as a great template for Northern health as they plan for other community clinics in the weeks and months ahead.

You can keep up to date with any items of note from the vaccination clinic through the Northern Health Facebook page for Prince Rupert.

For more items of interest from the MLA's work at the Legislature see our archive page here.

Note: we have replaced the link to the Legislature video archive with the video from the MLA's Facebook page, that option became available later in the morning.