A late breaking news item from a national news source strongly supports the contention that Zostavax is history, and this was confirmed in a CARP (Canadian Association of Retired People) expert panel discussion held the day my tribunal hearing started: December 4, 2017.
January 8, 2018. An email this morning from GSK Canada announced the immediate availability of Shingrix, with a search engine to find clinics to dispense it in the local vicinity. A check with several pharmacies in our locale provided a touch of disparity in pricing and availability, but the consensus appears that it is available to order, which may take a few hours or a couple of days, and the price should be close to $140 per shot, with two shots at least two months apart required for the advertised efficacy. Two items to bear in mind: you do not need a prescription from a physician: a pharmacist can both sell and administer the injection. The other is that this inoculation may have some minor side effects with discomfort lasting up to a couple of days.
January 28, 2018. While I can't say I have had any negative feedback about this narrative, all the comments so far have been quite complimentary.
February 22, 2018. A commentary in yesterday's Calgary Herald appears to concur with my contention that shingles vaccination - particularly with the newly available Shingrix vaccine - is a cost effective win-win for our medical system nationwide.
March 9, 2018. The ninety days for the Tribunal Member (TM) to submit a ruling and report expired on Tuesday (March 6), and yesterday I received a letter from the TM, Ms. Korenkiewitz, stating that she has been unable to fulfill the commitment to render a decision within the 90 day prescribed period, citing excessive workload and under staffing as the reasons for the delay. This appears to be indicative of the vested interest of the legal profession in delay. Why confront an issue when it can be deferred?
Meantime, I posed the question to the Medical Director for BC's immunization programs (who turned out to be aware of the TM's response, in spite of not being listed as a recipient or shown as copied in the letter itself) as to how long it might be before the Shingrix vaccine could be found cost effective and therefore provided free on demand by our medical system. Her quick response was that it may (all other issues aligning as they should) come up for consideration at her committee's June meeting. My thinking here is that it would be interesting if we were provided with free shingles vaccination before the BCHRT renders a decision. That would really expose this three year plus process for the travesty and waste of public resources that it truly has been!
April 20, 2018. A recent query from a reader who was considering being vaccinated against shingles, but was uncertain as to whether he should bite the bullet and pay for it, or wait in the expectation that it will be covered by MSP (the Provincial Medical Services Plan) sometime soon, provided food for thought and elicited the following response, which I consider a reasonable compromise. If you have had no prior shingles vaccination, it's prudent to pay for Shingrix and get vaccinated now. Since I had a Zostavax injection only three years ago, I'm going to wait and see if Shingrix vaccination is going to be covered by MSP by the end of this year. I might do a bit more prodding if it's still in limbo at that time.
A local acquaintance, whose means are somewhat strained, indicated her preference was to wait. I believe that an individual's overall state of health is also key. Anyone who seems susceptible to colds and 'flu, or any variety of infections, should probably not wait.
June 13, 2018. The original 90 day commitment for a ruling was deferred by the Tribunal ostensibly because of excessive workload and under staffing. Meantime according to their news page as of April 24th, 2018, they have appointed a new Tribunal Member, hired three new staff, and are advertising an opening for a part time lawyer. However, another hundred days beyond the original ruling commitment have passed, and there is still not a peep from them. I infer from this that their strategy in this unusual age discrimination case is to defer a decision until the complainant dies. If I were a true cynic, I would suggest that as a supposedly independent body, the BC Human Rights Tribunal is unwilling to produce a ruling that would run counter to the position of the Ministry of Health and its monstrous bureaucracy. That would effectively be biting the hand that feeds it, and endanger future funding and growth.
July 22, 2018. Last week, along with the ususal MSP invoice, the mail brought an enclosed leaflet announcing a new online service, enabling invoice delivery via email, and payment of MSP directly to Revenue Services of British Columbia by direct bank transfer or by credit card. Having been paying this on line from my bank in any event, it's no big deal, but it's an indication that MSP billing has finally caught up with the rest of the world and entered the 21st century. However, if they really do provide for credit card payment with no additional charge to the client, they are giving up several percentage points to the card issuer bank, which will have to be made up through other means.
July 30, 2018. Eight months since the BCHRT hearing, and still no ruling, and further excuses are not even being offered. Obviously the Tribunal has priorities, and ruling on an issue which may put them at odds with another provincial bureaucracy is not one of them.
My one reliable contact with the Ministry of Health, being the Medical Director, Immunization Programs and Vaccine Preventable Diseases Service at BC Centre for Disease Control, indicated some time ago that the Communicable Diseases Advisory Committee, which makes recommendations on issues such as funding of vaccinations, was meeting in June, and might at that time make a recommendation on including Shingrix among the vaccinations that are publicly funded. While she would not indicate whether that issue had been discussed at the recent meeting, I had an instant response to my query as to how long it would take to implement a positive recommendation. The earliest that Shingrix could possibly be made available free of charge to a selection of susceptible subjects would be April 1, 2019. That is not to say it will be; and since at this time I have no idea whether the matter even came up at the current meeting, the likelihood of having free shingles vaccination within my lifetime is looking pretty slim at the moment.
August 7, 2018. BCHRT has Service Standards which it "aims to meet at least 80% of the time". Unfortunately, this complaint falls into the other 20%. In light of the recent establishment of a BC Human Rights Commission (with no apparent input from any seniors' advocacy group), we can now expect turf wars to commence between the Tribunal and the Commission, which apparently is principally concerned with issues such as gender identity and aboriginal grievances. In any event, a letter of encouragement to the Tribunal Member to get on with a ruling was sent today.
August 10, 2018. FINALLY - a ruling. I don't believe my letter sent three days ago had any influence on the timing of the release of this decision, but it felt good to let them know that the delay was unacceptable. As expected, the result of the extended proceedings was an unqualified victory for the establishment, and corresponding defeat for me and all BC seniors, which is summarized in the last - 110th - paragraph of the 28 page document: "The complaint is dismissed in its entirety".
December 14, 2018. Last month a close friend and retired teacher emailed us the following note: "I am on Day 15 of my shingles experience and it ain’t pretty- it chose to make itself known on my face and in my scalp, so not only is it painful, but darn hideous, too. I must admit it is better than the first few days when I looked like some meth addict who had come in second in a fist fight. The big worry is any effect on the vision. My Dr. got me into an ophthalmologist PDQ - first examination was clear, but I have a return visit on the 28th, so keeping fingers crossed.
I’ll have to make a decision about whether or not to get the vaccine when I’m eligible- no guarantees that it will prevent a return though."
My response: "Ouch! That could make us re-think our decision to wait 'til spring (reminds me of the "why wait for spring" work promotion campaign - from 50 years ago), when there's a chance the Communicable Diseases Advisory Committee might have recommended inclusion of the vaccination at their last meeting back in June this year (see the July 30 entry in my blog - above). If you feel like strangling the two overpaid, arrogant, supercilious females from the Attorney General ministry who conducted the establishment's rebuttal of my complaint, I can point you in their direction and maybe assist you in the endeavour - then we could go after the Tribunal member who made the ruling. Otherwise we can just hope that they all come down with shingles themselves in due course.
A principal justification Elaine and I are using for the delaying our own Shingrix shots is that we have already spent $400+ on Zostavax (which I couldn't even get today because I'm too old), but I believe that Shingrix is way more effective, and of course, the effectiveness of Zostavax diminishes with both time and age."
A principal justification Elaine and I are using for the delaying our own Shingrix shots is that we have already spent $400+ on Zostavax (which I couldn't even get today because I'm too old), but I believe that Shingrix is way more effective, and of course, the effectiveness of Zostavax diminishes with both time and age."
A more recent note from this victim indicates that she is over the worst, and the symptoms are slowly diminishing. However, a good six weeks of agony might readily have been avoided if she had been vaccinated. Meanwhile, our "progressive" government and its Ministry of Health appear to have plenty of excess funding available for sex changes! A statement about their questionable priorities can be made here, and meantime I would encourage everyone to contact their MLA to denounce this travesty. My letter to the Minister of Health can be accessed here, with a similar missive to the Premier.
