British Columbians age 58 and older are expected to receive invitations Wednesday night to book their COVID-19 vaccines, and calls for subsequent ages will be coming fast and furious, B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said as the province announced 841 new cases of the virus.
“The appointments are going to come in May and June quickly,” said Dix in a media availability, urging everyone to get registered and ready.
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Next week, the province is expected to receive twice as much Pfizer-BioNTech — 276,000 doses. With a similar number doses of Pfizer also on the way each week thereafter, the province is set to have 1.1 million doses of Pfizer alone to administer in May.
“So once we get to Monday of next week, we are going to be inviting people to book rapidly — age by age by age by age through the week,” said Dix.
Once their age is called, everyone who is registered will receive an invitation to book using the contact information provided. Anyone 18 and older can register.
A new age cohort could be called every day next week, Dix said.
Registering on the government’s Get Vaccinated website is required for everyone, including people who have had first shots through pharmacies or other parallel programs. Registration allows the province to track vaccinations and ensure everyone gets a second-dose notice.
About 1.9 million people across the province have already registered for vaccines, and 750,000 have already booked.
Anyone whose age is available for booking but hasn’t registered can do so immediately and still book.
More than 40,000 immunizations were administered in the province on Tuesday, both in health authority programs and in pharmacy clinics.
The province is targeting people age 30 and older in 16 hotspots outside Island Health, and even introduced pop-up clinics in areas of high transmission in the Lower Mainland on Tuesday, causing long lineups and some neighbourhood hopping.
There are now 8,009 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, 515 of whom are hospitalized, including 171 in intensive care.
Another 35 cases were reported in Island Health on Wednesday, for a total of 315 active cases, according to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. Of the total active cases, 28 are in hospital, including six in intensive care.
The epicentre for new cases continues to be Fraser Health, with 541 new cases on Wednesday. The fewest new cases were in Northern Health with 20.
There are now 11,657 people who are being monitored in the province as a result of being exposed to a known COVID case.
There were five new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 1,576 in B.C.
There have been 1.7 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca administered in B.C., 89,725 of which are second doses. There are 4.3 million people who are eligible for the vaccine.
Of 127,889 cases in the province since the pandemic, 118,057 have recovered.
ceharnett@timescolonist.com
58 and older can book vaccines, as province prepares for fast-moving rollout - Times Colonist
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