County Reeve encourages vaccine uptake

By Nikki Jamieson
Westwind Weekly News

Cardston County Reeve Randy Bullock encourages those on the fence to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Although as of Nov. 14, 75.4 per cent of the 12 and above population of the Cardston-Kainai region has received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and are fully vaccinated, something the ward 7 councillor calls “great”, he encouraged those who haven’t to book their shots.
“If we look at what’s happening in our hospitals, it clearly shows that the unvaccinated are more prone to severe outcomes,” said Bullock. “Getting vaccinated is not just about protecting yourself, it’s also about protecting those who are most vulnerable. The data shows that the chance of transmitting Covid in someone who is vaccinated is far less then someone who is unvaccinated. Obviously the vaccines work and I would encourage anyone who is eligible to get vaccinated.”
Unvaccinated Albertans are at a much higher risk of having a severe outcome after contracting COVID-19, including hospitalization and death, over vaccinated Albertans.
Bullock noted that there is a lot of misinformation floating around regarding the vaccines, and encouraged people to talk to their doctors and “to not feed their doubts with information that has not been proven”. He pointed out the the vast majority of those in the ICUs with COVID-19 are unvaccinated, and said getting the vaccine was the best defines we have against the coronavirus.
“It’s been a trying time for many of us during the pandemic. Not one person has been untouched by the effects of Covid. From lost lives to lost jobs to lost health, mental and physical. To all the health care workers who have worked tirelessly to care for the sick I want to say thank you. To everyone , I would say stay the course, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Hang in there, follow the advise of your doctor and we will soon look back on this time with many lessons learned. More normal times are coming but it will depend on all of us to do our part.”