THE BC Liberals said on Monday that Premier John Horgan’s failure of leadership continues as an internal Fraser Health document confirms vulnerable seniors across B.C. will wait until mid-December for their COVID-19 third-dose booster shots — which other provinces had no trouble delivering to their citizens in August and September.

“Once again, we have a promise made by the Premier that has failed to be implemented in a timely manner — and seniors in long-term care are the ones paying the price,” said Shirley Bond, Interim Leader of the Official Opposition and Critic for Health, Seniors Services and Long-Term Care.

“This government promised them booster shots three weeks ago, but has been caught flat-footed with no effective plan to deliver them on time. A slow, uncoordinated rollout by mid-December is not good enough. The Premier needs to protect these seniors now.”

As seniors continue to wait, tragedy is unfolding at facilities like the Willingdon Care Centre in Burnaby where at least 10 deaths have been reported so far, said the BC Liberals.

“It isn’t a surprise that booster shots would be needed for seniors in long-term care homes. It has been more than six months since most of them received their second doses, and groups like the BC Care Providers have been asking the ministry about boosters since September 1. The government should have been prepared,” said Bond. “We don’t have a supply problem, we have a coordination and delivery problem and John Horgan needs to fix it immediately.”

Other provinces like Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario have all managed to administer early third dose boosters, yet B.C remains far behind, the BC Liberals said.