With vaccine uptake slowing substantially, the Yukon government and public health officials had to dispose of expired COVID-19 vaccines in May – and are poised to get rid of more at the end of June.

Dr. Paul Hasselback is filling in as medical officer of health for the Yukon until the end of June. He told the Star Monday afternoon that 4,500 vaccine doses were trashed at the end of May.

Another 2,000 are due to expire June 30.

The primary culprit is a prounounced lack of demand for the vaccines.

“We have to dispose of them; there’s no choice,” Hasselback said.

“There’s a balance between not having enough doses and having too much.”

According to the official figures, only 54 per cent of eligible Yukoners have taken advantage of the third shot, commonly known as the booster, offered by the government.

Those shots were first made available in September 2021, or nearly nine months ago.

Hasselback also had some figures on the second booster shots, or the fourth dose, which was just introduced by the government about two months ago.

Preliminary numbers from those doses are looking only a little more promising, at least amongst seniors.

Hasselback said 33 per cent of people more than 70 years of age have been jabbed to date.

People in the 50-69 age range have been less enthusiatic so far. Only 10 per cent have lined up for the shots.

Hasselback noted that age demographics have only been eligible for the shots for about two weeks, and those numbers might improve.

He spent some time discussing why the public seems to have distanced itself from the third and fourth doses, but acknowledged it’s mostly guess work.

The same phenomenon has been seen across Canada, Hasselback stressed. With the virus apparently in a bit of a lull – or at least that’s the public perception – many people don’t think the shots are necessary.

Haselback also suggested faith in the vaccines might have wavered a bit. While they provide some good assurance that any breakthrough infections will be mild, people are still a little wary, and lack trust in the efficacy of the vaccines.

Others, Hasselback suggested, are turned off by the ideal that the shots, which were originally marketed as a two-dose series, need further updates.

“There is lots of confusion and a lack of confidence (in the vaccines) because of Omicron,” he said.

“But they still have a role, and we need to make them more accessible.”

That’s why the government is still heavily pushing the vaccines as the best option to deal with COVID-19.

Hasselback touched briefly on the subject of natural immunity, which is attracting renewed interest from the public.

While he acnowledged natural immunity can play a role and offer some protection, he said it’s not as predictable as the effects of the vaccine.

He cited examples of people who have caught COVID-19 more than once as evidence.

Hasselback also said it’s not unusual to have a wide geographic variation in vaccine uptake, as is being seen in the Yukon.

Generally, that reflects local social values and customs, he said.

The highest rates for the booster are in Haines Junction and Champagne, at 56 per cent.

Eleven communities around the Yukon have acceptance rates of more than 50 per cent but less than 60 per cent.

The lowest rates are found in Ross River at 22 per cent, while Watson Lake and Pelly Crossing are at 32 per cent.

Since the vaccines were introduced in early 2021, the Ross River region has continually registered as the area with the most reluctance to be vaccinated.

Several other communities, mostly in the central Yukon, are also less than enthusiastic about the booster by the numbers.

Braeburn, Carmacks and Faro register in the low-to-mid 40 per cent range, along with Tagish, Teslin, Swift River, Carcross and Johnson’s Crossing.

Whitehorse comes in at a rather mediocre 51 per cent, while Dawson City is 48 per cent.