B.C. outlines phased vaccine plan
Health care workers up first, with mass inoculation by spring
The first 4,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine will begin to be administered in B.C. next week to frontline health care workers — and by the spring the province expects rapid distribution to the general population.
The B. C. government on Wednesday outlined a phased plan — targeted initially to save lives and protect health care workers — that will roll out as more vaccines are approved by Health Canada and become available for distribution.
“Although COVID-19 has turned our lives upside down, today, and this week, we have a glimmer of hope — although the end may not be in front of us, the beginning of the end may well be,” said B.C. Premier John Horgan. “The announcement that vaccines are available and will be coming to British Columbia as early as next week is a sign of optimism for all of us, an opportunity for us to celebrate briefly, but then redouble our efforts as we go into the next number of months."
In the last two months, coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths have surged.
While daily case numbers have dropped in the past week, with 619 new cases reported Wednesday, there are more people in hospital than during the initial surge last March. On Wednesday, there were 338 people in hospital, 75 of those in critical care. Another 16 people were reported dead Wednesday, bringing the total deaths in B.C. to 559.
The province imposed restrictions in November, prohibiting social gatherings other than with your immediate household, that were recently extended through the holiday season. With wide dispersal of vaccines months away, it means a return to normal still isn't likely until next fall, said Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.'s provincial health officer.
While the vaccine is the pathway to ending the pandemic, 60 to 70 per cent of the population will need shots to gain so-called “herd immunity” that will halt the spread of the coronavirus, said Henry. It's possible that restrictions could ease by the summer, she added.
The first vaccines to be used in B.C. are from Pfizer-BioNTech, which must be stored at -70 C temperatures. Approval for use in Canada of a Moderna vaccine, which needs to be stored at -20 C, is expected soon.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines will initially be provided at two sites — at unnamed health care facilities in the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health regions — to health care providers who work at long-term care homes, where the pandemic has been most deadly, and also to those on the COVID-19 front lines such as hospital intensive care units.
Once a safe way to transport the vaccines to long-term care homes has been worked out, they will be administered to residents. As more vaccine becomes available, people who will be prioritized to get the vaccine include the elderly, other front-line workers such as paramedics and firefighters, and the vulnerable such as those living in shelters. Isolated Indigenous communities will also be a priority.
The province expects to have about 400,000 vaccines administered by the end of March, less than 10 per cent of the population. Later in the spring, Henry expects more vaccines that are easier to dispense will be available for rapid distribution.