Virus still taking toll in IH

Three more people in the Interior Health region have died from COVID-19, the government announced Friday.

Their ages were not given in the daily update on the pandemic. But 11 of the 14 care homes where there are active COVID-19 outbreaks are in the Interior Health region. A total of 1,807 British Columbians have died of COVID19 since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020. Ten percent of the deaths have been in Interior Health.

Between Thursday and Friday, 867 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed across the province. It was the highest one-day total in four months despite the widespread availability of vaccine.

Of the new cases, 350 were in Interior Health, 228 were in Fraser Health, and 165 were in Vancouver Coastal Health.

In the past two weeks, 71% of the new cases have been in people who have not gotten vaccinated. And 86% of the COVID-19 hospitalizations have been for unvaccinated people.

The provincial vaccination rate is 83.9%, but it is significantly lower in most areas of Interior Health.

HEALTH CANADA AUTHORIZES MODERNA’S FOR KIDS 12-17

OTTAWA — Health Canada has finally given the green light for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine to be used for kids as young as 12.

The original approval for Moderna in December 2020 was only for people at least 18.

Moderna applied for authorization for youth in early June, citing a clinical trial of 3,700 youth in which none of the teens who got two doses developed a COVID-19 infection.

Youth as young as 12 in Canada have been authorized to receive the vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech since May 5. As of mid-August, 75% of kids in that age group had received at least one dose, and 59% were fully vaccinated.

Health Canada also says the National Advisory Committee on Immunization is meeting next week to discuss whether booster shots should be offered to people with compromised immune systems.

Ontario has already begun to offer boosters to transplant recipients, people with some blood cancers and long-term care home residents.

Health Canada took only a few weeks to approve Pfizer for youth, and has not explained why the Moderna review took more than two months.

“After a thorough and independent scientific review of the evidence, Health Canada has determined that the vaccine is safe and effective at preventing COVID-19 in youth aged 12 to 17,” a spokeswoman wrote in an email Friday.

Europe approved the Moderna vaccine for children more than a month ago. The United States has not yet authorized it for teenagers.