Raring to go: young adults in Winnipeg keen to get vaccine

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/05/2021 (1925 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s youngest adults jumped at the opportunity to get their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on the very day they became eligible for it.

“I just knew that I wanted to get vaccinated as soon as possible, because I see a lot of people where I work. I just want to be safe,” said Larissa Persaud, who works at a Booster Juice outlet.

She lined up at one of two Indigenous clinics that accepted walk-ins Wednesday, the day all Manitoba adults became eligible for a shot.

The 20-year-old said it was more convenient than booking an appointment at a super site.

While many young adults went online to book future appointments at one of the seven super sites, lineups quickly formed at the two Indigenous clinics. Even though the queues never exceeded 15 people at either site, organizers at the Indigenous Health and Wellness Centre at 181 Higgins Ave. were concerned about reaching capacity in the early afternoon. None of the people in line at the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre at 363 McGregor St. had made an appointment.

Many of the young people were queued up work at high-risk jobs, including 18-year-old Joseph McCallum, who had a day off from his job at Costco.

“Today, my older brother, a friend of his works here, and they were putting on their Instagram story that 18-year-olds would be able to walk in… I have the day off, so I figured why not,” he said.

McCallum said he’d heard that he was eligible for the vaccine just hours earlier through friends on Instagram.

“It’s super cool. I have a couple of friends who work at these sites, and they’re trying to post all the time to show awareness, that there’s room for walk-ins, that’s going on,” he said. “It’s really nice.”

Social media was an invaluable resource to many of the young people waiting in line Wednesday, including sisters Anica Warkentine, 21, and Sophie Warkentine, 19, who waited at the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre.

“I had booked an appointment online but it wasn’t until June 2, and then when I heard about this clinic, I thought, ‘Well, why not take the opportunity?’” Sophie said.

Both said their friends had taken to social media to encourage each other to get vaccinated.

“It’s probably the primary source of updates that I’ve got just vaccine-wise and COVID-wise,” Sophie said. “I think everyone just stays up to date with things like that through social media.”

The sisters both work in service jobs and their mother works in a school, which increased the urgency for them to get vaccinated. While the vast majority of their friends feel the same way, Sophie said some are hesitant.

“I was just talking to a friend, and she’s really hesitant about the vaccine and she isn’t sure if she wants to get it. I just said (to) think about how it’s affecting other people,” Sophie said. “It’s not just a personal decision when it affects other people, and when it involves maybe saving people’s lives.”

The province, which expects to administer 84,000 doses throughout the next week, asked that those who are eligible make an appointment at a super site as the downtown drop-in clinics are meant for Indigenous Manitobans.

“The intent of those clinics were for Indigenous people of Manitoba. That is the intent of them, and that is, I think, how they should be used,” said Johanu Botha, operations lead for the vaccine task force.

Both sites are structured to accommodate people who may not have ID or access to a phone or online resource to book an appointment.

Otherwise, Botha said the two Indigenous-led clinics have been able to use up their vaccine inventory each day.

“By all accounts, they’re performing incredibly well,” Botha said.

—with files from Danielle DaSilva

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: malakabas_