Shutdown

However, the risk of faster-spreading variants is concerning, and health officials have been discussing the possibility of a variant circulating in the Los Angeles area because of the amount of truck traffic transporting goods across the border to British Columbia from California, Henry said.

“We are in discussions with the federal government about how do we put in a rational way, and hopefully a co-ordinated way with the U.S., of having periodic testing of people who are essential workers coming back and forth across the border.”

After vaccination for the most vulnerable people in long-term care and assisted-living facilities as well as healthcare workers, Henry said the province will refocus its efforts on immunizing people over 80 in the community before starting mass vaccinations.

However, she said she needs more confidence that vaccine doses promised by Ottawa will be arriving when expected.

Health Minister Adrian Dix said 10 per cent of B.C.’s population will be vaccinated by the end of March based on current timelines around vaccine delivery, and that number is set to rise to 50 per cent by the end of June.

“We need to recognize that in the short run, right now, we have to maintain our actions to ... hold the line in transmission in the community.”