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The Liberal MLA for Kelowna West describes himself as a lifelong supporter of vaccines, and he's urging his constituents, supporters and everyone else to get vaccinated.
"It's going to be controversial," predicts Ben Stewart.
"We need everybody that legitimately doesn't have a medical issue to get vaccinated," he said, "with one of the three choices that we have."
Stewart is emphatic, that the only way out of the pandemic is widespread acceptance of the vaccine.
"This is a serious issue that affects Canadians, their families, loved ones," said Stewart. "And they really need that extra consideration when they think there's a hesitancy because we won't be able to go back to normal if we don't have herd immunity."
A recent poll by Insights West showed satisfaction with the vaccination process much higher among NDP voters, but Stewart hopes that vaccine hesitancy continues to drop for people of all political stripes.
When asked about the arguments coming forward from opponents of the COVID vaccines, he's heard nothing that resonates. "No, not all," said Stewart.
And he believes those who choose not to get immunized may have difficulties ahead.
"We know who they are because we need to know in case there's an outbreak," said Stewart in reference to students in school.
"I don't doubt that with COVID we're going to have a group that is unvaccinated that may have limitations," he added.
"They may not be able to attend events. They may not be able to travel out of the country, so those are the things we're going to see in the coming months."
When we spoke to Stewart he had received his first shot but was still seeking his second.
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