that's how it works with my family doctor too. the receptionist will call us when it's just about our turn. in the past, i've waited 4-5 hours to be seen despite my appointment time lol... wasn't great.

As much as waiting sucks in a way it can be a good sign. You don't want to be the guy in such bad shape that they zip you in immediately.

That's new this year, you used to have to hang around.

wait you mean you make an appointment with your family doctor and you have to wait 4+ hours???

Yeah, that's pretty jacked up. I usually only wait 15 minutes at most if I have an appointment and I'm in the office but he's always booked 3-4 weeks out.

When i was a kid and my mom would go or take me to our family doctor back in Regina it was always a 2 hour + wait even with appointment (1980s), hated that.

i never wait at all with my doctor, he is super punctual and i always enter the room right on the dot and he shows up at most a few mins later. if i had to wait more than 30m i'd be pissed let alone hours

You're in the minority then...

Mine isn't too bad, but my wife/kids' family doctor is always late...

My family doctor is pretty good. In within 15 minutes of appointment. And, when I'm in there, I don't get into useless conversations and dumb questions......... get to the point and get the fuck out of there. Others are waiting....................

Alberta's hospitals are dealing with a massive uptick in respiratory illnesses, and there's worry in the healthcare system that low vaccination uptake, government messaging and busy holiday get-togethers will make things much worse.

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/alta-prem...ases-1.6697901

TL;DR

- 44 died from the flu (so far)
- hospitals overflowing with sick people with all respiratory viruses, with flu being the worst
- province's lowest influenza vaccination rate in more than a decade
- < 23% have taken their flu shots
- 15.5% received COVID vaccine
- Danielle Smith refuses to tell Albertans to get immunized

Call me vengeful and vindicative, but I am (almost) laughing at what's happening in Alberta.

You reap what you sow, and Danielle Smith is a vile and horrible premier.

lol you think it’s only Alberta?

Vaccine uptake across Canada is basically the same as Alberta:

https://health-infobase.canada.ca/co...tion-coverage/

Piss poor job at messaging across the board. Whether it’s federal or provincial, and people have just stopped caring.

We’re heading into the 4th year of “Somthings gotta change!!!” With the healthcare system, and nothing has for the most part.

^ Is Vancouver the outlier? Most ppl I know took the flu vaccine this year. I can understand not wanting to deal with the downtime from a Moderna covid vaccine but the flu vaccine is not that bad.

For the COVID vaccine, you're correct -- Alberta's take rate is roughly on par with the rest of Canada.

But for the flu vaccine, the national take rate is typically over 30%, so Alberta is definitely coming up short regardless of whether it is by the national or their own provincial standard.

On a personal level, I know a lot of people have stopped caring, and on that level alone, not caring anymore is OK. But when the "stopped caring" happens on a much broader scale, high hospitalization numbers is what you get, and then it becomes a public health issue affecting more than just those who did not take up the vaccines.

At least BC has a higher uptake rate...

What we need to do is bring in immigrants that can work healthcare, but then not recognize their credentials and tell them to take a 4 year nursing degree if they want the job. That's been effective so far.

Even I was surprised how poor those uptake numbers are lol..

And let’s be real, not to say old people don’t matter, but I’m pretty sure the vast majority of these people in hospital are once again the oldies and people who are susceptible to illness.

That's all it ever is, they are the ones at risk

However, the more people who get the flu, the higher chance there of spreading to at risk people

Check back to page, like 34 of this thread.. That was a pandemic 101 lesson when weirdos were complaining "it's just like the flu"