Massimo Calabrese, 19, has asked the city of Williams Lake to do more to encourage people to get the COVID-19 vaccine. (Monica Lamb-Yorski photo - Williams Lake Tribune)

Williams Lake 19-year-old asks city to promote COVID-19 vaccine

Massimo Calabrese has written a letter to city council

A 19-year-old Williams Lake man is hoping city council will encourage more people to get the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Massimo Calabrese said he noticed the city had not been making a push for people to get vaccinated and held no public campaign so he wrote city council a letter outlining his concerns.

“I thought if it could be made easier for people to go get vaccinated, by having a volunteer system to give people rides or maybe put on a bigger event for people to get vaccinated,” he told the Tribune.

In his letter Calabrese noted for “the safety of each individual in Williams Lake, as well as the safety of vulnerable people in our community who can’t or won’t get the vaccine, the City of Williams Lake must make it a priority to encourage people to get vaccinated.”

He also said he would be happy to volunteer as a driver or organizer.

City council received his letter during a special committee of the whole on Tuesday, July 27.

Mayor Walt Cobb said he was able to find out that more than one million vaccines have been administered throughout the region and of that 557,000 people have had their first dose and 412,000 people have also had the second dose.

“I haven’t been able to get the numbers just for the Cariboo Chilcotin,” Cobb said.

He shared the times of the vaccine clinic at Thompson Rivers University which are Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“You don’t need an appointment,” he added.

Kim Dressler, the city’s executive assistant, said she forwarded the letter to Interior Health.


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