AstraZeneca shipment will go to curb outbreaks

As the province hammers out a plan to deliver the AstraZeneca vaccine to first responders and essential workers, the initial shipment arriving next week will be used to target outbreaks and clusters responsible for a troubling upward trend in new COVID-19 cases in B.C.

On Thursday, the provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, said a number of “recalcitrant” outbreaks in the Lower Mainland have been challenging to manage. These outbreaks are in food processing plants and agricultural sites where workers aren't able to work from home, or don personal protective equipment, and may live in communal settings.

“Those are the types of outbreaks we can make a big difference on with the vaccine,” said Henry, adding the vaccine will be able to halt continuing workplace-to-community transmission.

In the meantime, health officials will put together a detailed operational plan over the next two weeks for first responders and essential workers. That program will run separately from the agebased community vaccination program, said Henry.

Lending the rollout new urgency is that a portion of Canada's first 500,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from the Serum Institute of India is set to expire in April.

Front-line and essential workers were scheduled to get their first vaccine jab in June but will now get it sooner, thanks to the newly approved vaccine and B.C.'s decision to delay giving the second dose in order to provide protection to a larger swath of people.

“Maybe I'm too optimistic, but we're going to be in our post-pandemic world by the summer, if things continue to go the way that we want them to,” said Henry.

There were 564 new cases in B.C. reported Thursday, including 46 that are variants of concern.

Four people died in the last 24 hours from the virus, bringing the death toll to 1,376.