Getting the word out

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/04/2021 (1767 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MOLLY Kirchen, 28, had no idea she was eligible for a COVID-19 vaccination until Monday morning, when, out for a stroll in West Broadway with her three-year-old daughter Elizabeth, she saw a poster taped to a light post.

At the top of the poster, it read: “New COVID-19 vaccine eligibility.” Below that, information, including street names, was listed to help residents determine if they’re eligible for a shot.

Residents and select workers over the age of 18 in Downtown East, Inkster East, Point Douglas South and Seven Oaks West are now eligible to get the vaccine, after the province moved to target these areas because they’re hot spots of COVID-19 transmission.

Kirchen might not have known she fit the bill had she not seen the poster. At some point, someone had told her she wouldn’t be eligible for another year, so getting the jab wasn’t top of mind.

“I’m surprised,” said Kirchen, outside her Furby Street apartment. “I’m actually going to give that a call to see if I can make an appointment.”

Waiting in line outside The Salvation Army Thrift Store at the corner of Sherbrook Street and Westminster Avenue, Joshua Nixon had a similar story.

The 30-year-old didn’t know he was eligible until discovering the same orange-and-white poster plastered in at least two spots Sunday in his apartment building on Langside Street.

“I am planning on getting it,” said Nixon, “but I think part of me is also a little hesitant.”

He said he thinks his worries are based on the misconception that adverse reactions are more common than they are, but he can’t help but feel hesitant.

NDP MLA Uzoma Asagwara, who represents Union Station, spearheaded the poster campaign along with Leah Gazan, MP for Winnipeg Centre.

While social media is great, Asagwara believes on-the-ground information campaigns are important, particularly for inner-city neighbourhoods.

“Not everybody has access to the internet. Not everybody has access to television where they can see these announcements on the news,” Asagwara said. “Not everybody is able to find out that there’s new eligibility that affects specifically our communities downtown the same way.”

The MLA said a team blitzed the affected areas with hundreds of posters since Friday’s announcement. And some citizens have launched their own information campaigns, including a nurse who distributed similar flyers, Asagwara said.

In Point Douglas South, resident Cory Breyere said he plans to distribute information flyers at the Turtle Island Neighbourhood Centre.

Breyere, however, said he won’t get the vaccine. “I don’t trust the government,” he said.

Like Nixon, Breyere worries about rumours of adverse reactions to the vaccine, which are rare.

“A lot of people are worried that they should get it… they do believe in it, and I do believe in helping other people,” he said.

Around Point Douglas South near Main Street and Euclid Avenue, posters were either absent or difficult to spot. Many were unaware they qualified to get the vaccine.

Brent Campbell, a nurse at Health Sciences Centre who lives on Austin Street North, said he’s told his two roommates they can make appointments. One has booked the shot already; the other’s mistrust of government, he said, is too deeply ingrained. And Campbell said he can’t blame him for it.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca