B.C. has less than 17,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine on hand
Author of the article:
David Carrigg
Publishing date:
Feb 17, 2021 • 4 hours ago • 3 minute read
Dr. Bonnie Henry says in her response to the petition that the ban on indoor gatherings is necessary to limit the spread of COVID-19.Photo by Don Craig /Government of B.C.
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The COVID-19 reproductive rate has risen above the troubling “one” mark in the Fraser Health region, the provincial health officer warned on Tuesday.
Dr. Bonnie Henry said that over the past week there have been, on average, more than one additional infection for each case of the virus in B.C.’s most populous health region — so the disease is spreading exponentially there.
This comes as most of the 91 school exposures reported on Monday and Tuesday were in the Fraser Health region.
“The fact that we’re seeing an increase in the reproductive number means that we’re not having those safe interactions as much as we need to be,” Henry said. “We need to reduce the transmission events that are happening in our community.”
She said 40 per cent of all school exposures are related to social gatherings outside of school.
“What we’ve started to see in the last week is the seven-day rolling average of numbers of cases has started to creep up, particularly in Fraser Health,” Henry said.
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“We know that when we start to have transmission from multiple people to multiple people, it grows what we call exponentially. That means if I pass it on to two people, each of them passes it on to two people. Very quickly we get to four, we get to 16, we get to 256 within two generations.”
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There were 1,533 cases of COVID-19 reported in B.C. over the past four days and 26 deaths. There are 4,189 active cases, of which 231 are in hospital including 74 in intensive care.
B.C. is the only Canadian province that does not provide daily COVID-19 updates during the weekend or over long weekends.
The George Derby Centre long-term care outbreak, where 33 residents have died, continues. Three health-care outbreaks were reported and three declared over. There are now 15 active outbreaks in long-term care home and six in acute care settings.
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Henry said there were 8,773 doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered from last Friday to Monday – an average of 2,193 a day.
Based on B.C. Centre for Disease Control data, the province has 16,745 doses of COVID-19 vaccine on hand as of Tuesday. The B.C. Ministry of Health has distributed 188,000 doses of vaccine and 171,755 have been injected.
B.C., and all Canadian provinces and territories, have experienced cuts in the promised vaccine supplies from Pfizer and Moderna since the last week of January.
Henry said that an expected vaccine delivery next week from Moderna would be less that earlier promised, but Moderna has promised increased supplies in April.
Pfizer is increasing supplies to its North American air-hub in Kentucky – which closed for a day on Monday due to extreme winter weather – after three weeks of smaller deliveries.
“I qualify everything because, as we know with a large global production like this, there’s always snags, whether it’s the weather, whether it’s the production facility, whether it’s access to the supplies that we need — the low dead space syringes, for example,” Henry said, adding there were more vaccines in the pipeline that would be easier to administer than the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and they could be available within months.
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There has been one case of a Nigerian COVID-19 variant found in B.C. – that was detected before the World Health Organization added it to the variant-of-concern list, Henry said.
There have been 60 variants of concern detected in B.C. so far – 40 of the U.K. variant, 19 of the South African variant and one of the Nigerian variant. There is also a Brazilian variant that has not been detected in B.C.
Health minister Adrian Dix said a report on COVID-19 immunizations in care homes would be presented on Thursday.
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After months of anticipation, vaccination clinics for B.C.’s oldest residents and Indigenous seniors are set to begin booking appointments. Here’s what you need to know.
All health authorities in B.C. will begin booking appointments starting at 7 a.m. PST on Monday (March 8) for seniors who are age 90 and up, Indigenous seniors age 65 and up and Indigenous Elders. Vaccination appointments will begin on March 15.
Dozens of sites will be open across the province, with some operating as drive-thrus. Mobile teams will help vaccinate seniors who cannot leave their homes, while community groups will help those who cannot book on their own.
Before you call Monday morning, make sure you are (or are calling for):
a senior aged 90 and up
an Indigenous senior aged 65 and up
an Indigenous Elder
Booking starts at 7 a.m. PST on Monday and runs 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week. Online booking in Fraser Health will be available around the clock. Call centre operators will ask for legal name, date of birth, postal code, personal health number, phone number and an email address. They will not ask for banking or credit card information, nor for social insurance numbers.
Vancouver Coastal Health residents can book by phone at 1-877-587-5767
Island Health residents can book by phone at 1-833-348-4787
Interior Health residents can book by phone at 1-877-740-7747
Northern Health residents can book by phone at 1-844-255-7555
In most of B.C., seniors who are 85 and older can begin to book appointments on March 15 for dates starting March 22. Seniors who are 80 and older can begin booking on March 22 for dates starting March 29. This may differ by health authority – Northern Health residents will not have clinics operating full time in most communities.
After months of anticipation, vaccination clinics for B.C.’s oldest residents and Indigenous seniors are set to begin booking appointments. Here’s what you need to know.
All health authorities in B.C. will begin booking appointments starting at 7 a.m. PST on Monday (March 8) for seniors who are age 90 and up, Indigenous seniors age 65 and up and Indigenous Elders. Vaccination appointments will begin on March 15.
Dozens of sites will be open across the province, with some operating as drive-thrus. Mobile teams will help vaccinate seniors who cannot leave their homes, while community groups will help those who cannot book on their own.
Before you call Monday morning, make sure you are (or are calling for):
a senior aged 90 and up
an Indigenous senior aged 65 and up
an Indigenous Elder
Booking starts at 7 a.m. PST on Monday and runs 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week. Online booking in Fraser Health will be available around the clock. Call centre operators will ask for legal name, date of birth, postal code, personal health number, phone number and an email address. They will not ask for banking or credit card information, nor for social insurance numbers.
Vancouver Coastal Health residents can book by phone at 1-877-587-5767
Island Health residents can book by phone at 1-833-348-4787
Interior Health residents can book by phone at 1-877-740-7747
Northern Health residents can book by phone at 1-844-255-7555
In most of B.C., seniors who are 85 and older can begin to book appointments on March 15 for dates starting March 22. Seniors who are 80 and older can begin booking on March 22 for dates starting March 29. This may differ by health authority – Northern Health residents will not have clinics operating full time in most communities.
VICTORIA — Health authorities across British Columbia will start booking COVID-19 vaccination appointments Monday for people 90 years old and older and Indigenous residents over the age of 65.
The province says vaccine call centres will open at 7 a.m. at the Fraser, Island, Interior, Northern and Vancouver health authorities to make appointments for seniors to receive their shots.
The B.C. government website says people can book appointments for themselves or their spouse, and family members or friends are also permitted to make a booking on someone else’s behalf.
The website says callers to health authorities will be asked to provide the person’s first and last name, date of birth, postal code and personal health number.
The website says people born in 1936 or earlier can start calling for appointments on March 15 and those born in 1941 or earlier can start scheduling their shots on March 22.
Island Health says in a statement Sunday it will operate 19 community clinics where more than 40,000 people will receive their first COVID-19 vaccines over the next month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2021.
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