Two well-known and respected physicians in Altona briefly interrupted their retirement last night to answer some questions about the COVID-19 vaccines.

The town of Altona hosted a virtual discussion on the topic Thursday night featuring Dr. Ken Kliewer and Dr. Dieter Bueddefeld and livestreamed it to the local community.

Both doctors fielded questions from local residents on a range of vaccine-related topics. Residents raised questions about the mRNA vaccines and whether they are made from aborted fetuses and if they carry micro-chips and addressed concerns about vaccine-induced blood clots and the safety of taking two different kinds of vaccines for a first and second dose.

Mayor Al Friesen moderated the online discussion and feels it went quite well.

"There were 50 or so questions that the doctors dealt with, some of which were submitted in advance and others were submitted in the chat section last night. So, in terms of attracting people's attention and engaging people in conversation and relying on the doctors to do what they do, we were happy with that."

Friesen feels the answers both doctors provided were on point and should help to allay some of the vaccine fear that exists for some in the community.

"I'm was impressed with how up-to-date the doctors were on some of these topics. They had obviously done their research and they didn't just show up for the evening to just field questions. They had access to a lot of information and made telephone calls to other health professionals."

Altona is one of the communities in southern Manitoba with a vaccination rate that is lagging well behind the provincial average.

Friesen says he's hopeful yesterday's discussion will answer some of the questions people had that may have made them hesitant to get their shot.

"We also feel that our current rate of acceptance is about 40 per cent and province-wide it's 70 per cent, so we would like to bridge that gap and get closer to the provincial number and we think that will allow our community to get back to normal."

Friesen says the livesteam drew over 300 viewers and he expects it will generate even more viewers in the days ahead now that a video of the event has been posted to the town of Altona website. You can also view the video below.

By 1 pm Friday the video has garnered about 1,300 views.