Mass vaccination campaign could start in April

The B.C. government aims to have 150,000 people vaccinated by the end of February, says Dr. Bonnie Henry. About 70,000 people will be residents and staff of long-term care facilities. “Those are the people that we know need protection the most,” the provincial health officer said Monday.

Other priority groups for the first phase of vaccination include hospital workers, paramedics and people employed in public health (30,000 individuals), residents of remote and isolated Indigenous communities (25,000), and residents and staff of assisted living complexes (13,000).

In February and March, the government aims to vaccinate 400,000 more people; the largest component of this group is seniors over 80, and Indigenous people over 65, who live in the community rather than facilities.

A “mass vaccination strategy” targeted at the general public is expected to begin in April, with older people receiving top priority in descending five year increments under age 80. Overall, from mid-December through to the end of March, the government expects 549,000 British Columbians will have received their first COVID-19 vaccination shot, and about half of them will also have received the necessary second inoculation.

There are 5.1 million people in B.C. so the roll-out plan as presented by Henry would mean 10.7% of the overall population would be vaccinated by April.

“It’s a monumental task and there are many months to go in this,” Henry said. “We are constrained by logistics and also by how much vaccine we are receiving, but we are optimistic.”

From New Year’s Eve through Monday, a total of 2,211 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in B.C. Of that, 288 were in the region served by Interior Health.

Forty-five additional deaths were reported, including four in IH, making the total 946 since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020.

There are 351 people in B.C. hospitals with COVID-19, or 23 fewer than there were on New Year’s Eve.