Vaccine supply to ramp up by end of month

Mass vaccinations against COVID-19 will begin in B.C. by the end of February, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says.

Despite interruptions in the scheduled delivery of vaccine, the province is still on track to extend vaccinations beyond the first priority groups, Henry said Monday.

“We hope and we’ve been told that will be increasing our available vaccine supply as the month progresses,” Henry said.

“Importantly, while fewer people are receiving doses this week, we are continuing with our preparations to have widespread immunizations underway on a bigger scale than we've ever done before across the province in a few short weeks,” Henry said.

As of Monday, about 139,000 British Columbians had received the first of two necessary vaccine shots. Only about 4,500 people had also received the second shot.

The priority so far in the vaccination effort has been residents and staff at long-term care facilities across the province.

To date, 18 cases of a COVID-19 variant have been found in B.C. The new versions of the coronavirus have originated in places such as the United Kingdom and South Africa.

“We are concerned they may spread more easily than other strains of this virus,” Henry said. “We have stepped up our surveillance and testing.

“This also reminds us that gatherings of any size, in our homes and elsewhere, are very high risk right now and should not be happening,” Henry said.

With the Super Bowl coming up this weekend, followed by the Lunar New Year and Family Day, then spring break in March, Henry urged people not to gather together for any kind of celebration.

Henry said bars and restaurants should not be planning any Super Bowl viewing parties this weekend.

“We need to respect the staff and not put them at risk. Stay small, and stay apart, keeping everyone safe so that we can keep our bars, our restaurants, our retail spaces, our workplaces, open,” she said.

Across the province, 1,158 new cases of COVID-19, including 194 in the Interior Health region, were confirmed between Friday and Monday.

That brings to 67,937 people the number of people who’ve been infected with the virus since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020. Twenty-one more deaths were reported since Friday, bringing the total number of fatalities to 1,210.

Six deaths were recorded in Interior Health — three at care homes and three in the community or a hospital.

One person. died at the Heritage Retirement Residence in West Kelowna, one at Heritage Square in Vernon and one at Noric House in Vernon.

Seventy-five people have died in the IH region since the start of the pandemic.

“I’m sad to report that Interior Health lost another six people to COVID-19 over the weekend,” said IH CEO Susan Brown.

“While some of these individuals were living in long-term care homes, others were members of our community who passed in hospital. I want to offer my condolences to the families and caregivers.”

IH declared a COVID-19 outbreak at Westsyde Care Residences group home in Kamloops — now one of nine outbreaks in the region.