“We were assured by the government that we would be getting vaccinated sometime in April, but April has rolled around and we’re almost midway through the month,” said Christine Blessin, a third-grade teacher in Chilliwack. “I’m so disappointed.”
The head of Tourism Whistler is hopeful that the town’s new vaccination plan will help the community bounce back from a difficult year.
“Whistler’s entire economy is based on tourism, so this has been an incredibly challenging year for all of us,” president and chief executive officer Barrett Fisher said.
“We are grateful to our provincial health authorities for making this happen. The community vaccination program will help us on the road to recovery.”
A parallel COVID-19 vaccine rollout: How B.C. is recasting its priorities Bookmark Please log in to listen to this story. Also available in French and Mandarin. Log In Create Free Account
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Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press
The first batch of Oxford-AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, containing 60,000 doses, is expected to arrive in British Columbia this week. It isn’t clear who is going to be offered these shots.
Back in January, Premier John Horgan said British Columbia would provide vaccines based on a straightforward, age-based formula. “The science is very clear. The single biggest factor for death or severe illness is age,” he said then, sweeping aside intense lobbying efforts by different interest groups that wanted priority vaccines.
B.C. top doctor apologizes for seniors’ COVID-19 vaccine delay Bookmark Please log in to listen to this story. Also available in French and Mandarin. Log In Create Free Account
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CHAD HIPOLITO/The Canadian Press
British Columbia’s top doctor has apologized to thousands of seniors in long-term care homes across the province whose second dose of COVID-19 vaccine has been delayed – some of whom found out the day before their scheduled appointments this week.
On Monday, the province announced it will extend the interval between the first and second shots to 16 weeks as a way to free up more vaccine and immunize the wider population more quickly. Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry told reporters at that COVID-19 briefing that people who had already received their first dose would get their second within the previous window of six weeks. On Th
Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
British Columbia’s public-health officials are continuing to prioritize the delivery of second doses of its limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines, while it reviews a growing body of evidence that suggests it would be more effective to focus on first doses for more people.
Since vaccine supply began to arrive in December, British Columbia has administered 193,000 vaccines, including 37,000 second doses. The largest number of vaccines delivered in a single day in B.C. was on Thursday, with 12,251 people immunized. “More than half of those were second doses, reflecting the need to do that work,” Health Minister Adrian Dix said.