An Okotoks physician is concerned trust has been lost with Cargill employees after the postponement of COVID-19 vaccinations at the High River plant.
The vaccination of approximately 1,600 of the 2,000 employees was supposed to start April 22.
“I am so disappointed and I am fearful that the workers of Cargill have lost trust in the vaccine and the vaccine program and that can be extremely hard to rebuild,” said Okotoks Dr. Cassandra Hoggard, who was scheduled to give vaccines on Saturday. “I am very worried that efforts in the future will not be as successful.”
Approximately 1,600 of the 2,000 employees – 80 per cent - were registered for the vaccinations at the plant. The pilot project in which employees receive their shots at the worksite is one of the first of its kind in Alberta.
The High River Cargill plant had one of the largest outbreaks in North America in the spring of 2020, with close to 1,000 cases. There were three deaths connected to the COVID outbreak at the plant.
“These are very deserving people who yet again have not been prioritized,” Hoggard said. “I am incredibly frustrated. I feel like Albertans are not learning lessons from the past… These vulnerable workers work so hard and they work in a high-risk area and keep food on our tables.”
High River Dr. Adam Vyse, one of the lead physicians in the project, said the reason for the postponement was due to the province-wide reduction of the Moderna vaccine, the one allotted for the Cargill employees.
Vyse said discussions to provide the vaccines went on until April 21 before the project was postponed.
Premier Jason Kenney announced earlier this week the AstraZeneca vaccine is now available for Albertans born in 1981 or earlier.
Vyse said AstraZeneca is not the best option for the Cargill employees at this time.
“We are operating within the provincial guidelines for vaccine use,” he said. “There are enough of the workers at Cargill that are under 40 that would not qualify for AstraZeneca.
“In our opinion, having one vaccine for everybody is the way to run a pilot project.”
He is optimistic the project will proceed.
“We are ready to go at essentially a moment’s notice,” Vyse said. “The most important thing the employees understand is that this is not our decision, they can still trust us that we will bring the vaccine to them as soon as we can.”
He said the doctors are part of the whole machinery, which includes Cargill nurses, Alberta Health Services, and volunteers from various agencies who have helped with such things as translation.
He would not speculate as to who made the decision to stop the vaccination.
He is cautiously optimistic it will proceed in May.
“Of course, it is going to happen,” Vyse said. “And if someone changes their mind and understands the value of having this pilot project it will happen before then. All we need is 1,800 doses, if we don’t have Moderna it can be Pfizer.
“We know that Pfizer has a stable supply that comes into Alberta. It is just a matter for someone to figure out how to allot 1,800 our way.”
A statement from Cargill said it shares in the disappointment.
"We are disappointed with the news that our vaccine clinic has been postponed, but remain ready to help facilitate vaccines for our employees once they are available," said Dan Sullivan, media spokesperson for Cargill. "We’re optimistic that vaccines will play a critical role in slowing and stopping the devastating impacts of COVID-19 across the globe.
"Our focus remains on keep our employees safe, who are working tirelessly to deliver millions of meals to communities across Canada."
Dr. Tom McMillan with Alberta Health Services, said work is progressing to get the vaccines to Cargill.
“We regret that this clinic has had to be briefly postponed due to reductions in vaccine supply,” McMillan said in a statement on April 22. “We are working to allow it to proceed as soon as possible.”
He said health officials met with Cargill management today to update them and assure them that their staff will be vaccinated as soon as supply permits, along with other meatpacking plants and other workplaces in Phase 2C of our rollout plan, adding "like all our commitments of vaccines to all immunization sites, this clinic was planned subject to vaccine supply."
“We learned recently that we had lost almost 64,000 doses of Moderna vaccine scheduled for this week,” he wrote. “The shipment will be delayed until possibly early May and cut nearly in half. An exact delivery date has not yet been confirmed and this is impacting the timing of immunization for some groups.
“This is frustrating for all of us, but these delays are outside of Alberta’s control.
“We want this clinic to proceed as soon as possible.”
Livingstone-Macleod MLA Roger Reid, who has Cargill in his constituency, was unavailable for comment as of 5 p.m. April 22.
