Health Care students have been left off the list of people to vaccinate in the first round of COVID vaccines in Manitoba. Us, as health care students, will be going into practicum (aka the workforce) in a months time.

We will be working alongside nurses, support workers, and COVID patients assisting them in the fight against COVID, supporting the elderly, sick, and disabled without protection from the virus.

Younger students pose a significant risk to the public if they get COVID while working. Most of us could be asymptomatic, spreading the virus unknowingly to our patients, residents, and other HCA's before we realize that we have COVID.

There are also a large number of older adult health care students who aren't eligible to be vaccinated yet, posing a greater risk to themselves, their families, and the people they work with and for. Not to mention the students who are immunocompromised themselves, these people are the ones we need to protect.

Protecting frontline workers, including students, needs to be taken seriously if we want to have a chance to eliminate the virus from Manitoba. Brian Pallister has yet to address us as students directly and we demand change. We deserve change, and we are fighting for change. Please sign this petition if you agree.