Province invites all adults to register for COVID-19 vaccinations this week

The B.C. government is inviting all adults, aged 18 and over, to register for COVID-19 vaccinations this week.

The Ministry of Health's new schedule for its age-based immunization program calls for people aged 40 and up to register today, 35 and up on Tuesday, 30 and up on Wednesday, 25 and up on Thursday, and 18 and up on Friday. People born in 1976 and earlier, Indigenous peoples 18 and up, and those deemed clinically extremely vulnerable can register any time.

Registration, which is just the first step in the immunization process, can be completed online at gov.bc.ca/getvaccinated, by telephone through a provincial call centre at 1-833-838-2323 (between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.) or in-person at the nearest Service B.C. location.

To avoid system backlogs from the 1.8 million new invitees, the Ministry of Health is asking people to avoid registering until their age group is eligible.

People are then advised to check the Get Vaccinated website regularly for information on when booking opens up their age group.

Currently, vaccination bookings are available only to those 63 and over, Indigenous adults and the clinically vulnerable.

As well, people aged 55 to 65 have the option to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine by booking through a pharmacy.

The health ministry says 1.1 million British Columbians have registered for vaccination since the launch of online site on April and 400,000 have booked their appointments.