B.C.’s mixed-messaging, COVID booster wait-time confusion raises concerns

A Vancouver woman says she was denied a booster shot because it was too soon after a COVID-19 infection, despite 8-1-1 and the B.C. Centre for Disease Control website suggesting she could get the jab.

“They shouldn’t be telling you, ‘Oh go get a booster,’ and then when you get there, they say ‘Oh, you’re not supposed to be here,'” said Tiffany Candlish.

She tells CityNews she was just trying to do the right thing. After getting a text to book her COVID-19 booster and flu shots, the Vancouverite says she made sure she was eligible, since she had recently recovered from the virus.

“8-1-1 said, ‘Yeah, go get your booster shot, it’s fine,’ and then I checked on the website and the website says you can get your shot, so I was like, ‘Alright, I’ll do it,'” Candlish recalled.

However, when she sat down to get her shots on Tuesday at a clinic run by Vancouver Coastal Health, she says she was denied the COVID-19 vaccine because it was too soon after her infection — in early August.

“I felt that I had done my due diligence calling 8-1-1, checking the website, and then going out there and waiting an hour, and then when she spoke to me, she spoke down to me as if I’m a child and I didn’t know what I was talking about,” Candlish said of the experience, referring to the person who was supposed to administer her vaccines.

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Dr. Brian Conway, the medical director of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre, says he doesn’t understand why someone who wants a booster would be denied one.

“Cases such as the one you describe, to me, decrease public confidence in the whole vaccination process and are counterproductive to what we need to do,” he told CityNews.

The BCCDC website says people can wait three months after infection before getting a booster, while the Vancouver Coastal Health website recommends people wait three to six months.
B.C.’s Ministry of Health and Vancouver Coastal Health were unable to provide a statement in time for publication.

“It doesn’t say you must wait. And I think there’s a difference in the wording so that when people are going to get the booster, doing your due diligence, at the very least the message coming from the government should be clear and consistent,” said Candlish.

“The issue really is that there is no consistent message. And the issue is that everybody is being told different things so we need to have consistent messaging, BCCDC needs to have consistent messaging, they need to change their wording on the website.”

Conway says part of the problem is there’s a legitimate difference of opinion among experts when it comes to the wait time between infection and booster.

“People are suggesting to wait six months because the most recent infection has provided you additional protection. Others suggest that it be done almost as soon as you’re better,” he explained.

His recommendation is for people to get the shot a month after infection, as long as your last booster wasn’t within the previous three months.

Candlish says she is planning to file a formal complaint with VCH over the whole experience.

Meanwhile, she says she’s left waiting for her fourth shot, saying it won’t happen until December now.

“I have to wait it out. So they told me, ‘We’ll put you in the system for a booster around Christmas time.’ Because I do work in a high-volume café, I would like to make sure that that’s okay,” she said.

“The best thing to do is try and do your research, but even if you do your research, the information is unclear so just make sure that if you go out, you’re ready to be turned down.”