Vaccinations against COVID-19 have all but stalled out, show weekly statistics released by Northern Health covering 40 areas within northern B.C.
Just four of those 40 locations showed an increase in people over the age of 12 getting their first dose for the week ending Dec. 14, a trend that has been growing since late fall.
And in each of those four locations, all in the northeast where vaccination rates are among the lowest in the north and with northern rates below those elsewhere in the province, the increase was just one per cent.
There are scatterings of second dose increases, a natural follow on from those who have received first doses, and the weekly releases are now starting to show third dose numbers.
In B.C., 88.7 per cent of people aged 12 and up have received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine, compared to 78 per cent in Northern Heath as of Dec. 16.
Northern Health鈥檚 chief medical officer for the northwest, Dr. Raina Fumerton, says it鈥檚 hard to pin down the reasons why vaccinations have ground to a halt in the north or even why the northern rate, as an average of the population, lags behind the rest of the province.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a challenge,鈥� said Fumerton last week. 鈥淲e have gotten to a much better place than where we were just a couple of months ago.鈥�
Proof of vaccination requirements for restaurants, bars, recreation and entertainment have nudged initially-resistant people to get their does as have federal vaccination requirements to get on an airplane.
鈥淎nd we鈥檝e worked hard to remove as many barriers to access as we can,鈥� said Fumerton.
鈥淏ut we know there is a certain percentage [of the population] that won鈥檛 get vaccinated.鈥�
鈥淲e still run across people who are hesitant and we鈥檙e doing everything we can, bending over backwards,鈥� Fumerton added.
Misinformation spread widely over social media channels is not helping and health officials spend time correcting what people are reading or watching.
Health officials will also spend time explaining the nature of each vaccine option, all but tailoring what will be offered to the vaccine hesitant.
Specific to the north, Fumerton said there could very well be an anti-government attitude at work, something rooted in the desire to be independent of authority.
鈥淪ome people just don鈥檛 like being told what to do,鈥� she said.
But she鈥檚 at a loss to explain why rates within northern urban areas are higher than northern rural areas.
In what鈥檚 called the 鈥楽mithers Town Centre鈥�, the second dose rate is 82 per cent, 10 percentage points higher than 鈥楽mithers Rural鈥�, a circumstance repeated in Burns Lake when compared to both north and south of the village.
鈥楾errace City Centre鈥� comes in at 85 per cent having a second dose but in 鈥楾errace Rural鈥�, the rate is 79 per cent.
Second dose rates in the northeast are generally lower than elsewhere in the north 鈥� 63 per cent in Chetwynd, 56 per cent in north of Peace River and 73 per cent in Dawson Creek.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just difficult to know,鈥� said Fumerton of the disparity between elsewhere in the north. 鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult to know what we don鈥檛 know. We could try surveys but I doubt that the people who don鈥檛 what vaccines would be the people who would fill them out.鈥�
Some anti-vaccination groupings can be traced back to religious groups who have a mistrust of public health in any event, Fumerton continued.
鈥淭hese people do look to faith leaders for advice,鈥� she said.
Still, Fumerton said the COVID-19 vaccination rate among those eligible has outpaced other public health vaccination campaigns.
鈥淒efinitely higher, it鈥檚 been pretty spectacular,鈥� she said.
This is the last week for vaccination clinics within the north with most clinics in most areas opening again the first week of January.
COVID vaccination rates aside, Fumerton did urge that people take advantage of flu shots, noting that they are free and available at pharmacies as well as public health units.
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