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West Vancouver mayor quits country club over reported planned ‘pop-up’ vaccine clinic

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Flying Eze
April 24, 2021

West Vancouver’s mayor says she’s cancelled her membership at the exclusive Hollyburn Country Club, after reports the facility planned to hold a pop-up COVID-19 vaccine clinic.

Mary-Ann Booth shared the move on Twitter Saturday afternoon.

“Although I did not receive the invitation to Hollyburn Country Club’s exclusive pop-up vaccination clinic myself, I was appalled when I heard about it through the media,” she wrote.

“It is completely unacceptable, and I have cancelled my family’s Hollyburn membership in response.”

1/2 Although I did not receive the invitation to Hollyburn Country Club's exclusive pop-up vaccination clinic myself, I was appalled when I heard about it through the media. It is completely unacceptable, and I have cancelled my family's Hollyburn membership in response. #WestVan

— Mary-Ann Booth, Mayor of West Vancouver (@maryannbooth) April 24, 2021

The planned April 26 clinic was first reported by the CBC. According to the report, members over the age of 40 were offered the chance to book an AstraZeneca shot by providing their personal information and club ID number.

Global News has requested comment from the Hollyburn Country Club but did not hear back in time of publication.

In a statement, B.C.’s Ministry of Health called the reported clinic “unacceptable,” adding it had cancelled the clinic and would not provide any additional COVID-19 vaccines to the pharmacy involved.

B.C. opened eligibility for the AstraZeneca vaccine to anyone in B.C. born in or before 1981 on Monday, but British Columbians have reported long waitlists at participating pharmacies amid dwindling supply.

On Thursday, provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the province had not received any shipments of the vaccine since the week before, and wasn’t sure when it would get more.

“We have very little of it left in the province right now,” she said.

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The province re-directed much of the remaining supply to 13 high-transmission communities in a bid to target the vaccine to COVID hotspots.

On Friday, hundreds of people descended on an unannounced walk-in availability at the Vancouver Community College COVID-19 test site after word spread on social media. Many were turned away when supply ran out.

As of Friday, B.C. had administered a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine to about 1.45 million people, representing more than 28 per cent of B.C.’s population.