Health officials in British Columbia reported 2,174 new cases of COVID-19 over the weekend, but expressed some encouragement about what lies ahead for the province’s vaccination program.
Dr. Bonnie Henry said that BC has reached a new and encouraging point with regards to our vaccine supply and, starting today, the amount of vaccine we’re receiving will increase significantly.
“In the month of May alone, we’ll be receiving over a million doses of vaccine available for people across the province.”
“This is good news for all of us, it means everybody who is eligible will have access to a vaccine before Canada Day and we think significantly before that.”
As of today, there have been 1,877,330 doses of vaccine administered in BC, which Health Minister Adrian Dix said represents 41.5% of eligible British Columbians.
Of those, 91,731 are second doses, and Henry said that the increased supply has health officials thinking about the current 16-week interval between first and second doses.
“The most important thing that we know will help stop transmission and protect everybody is to get as many people as possible their first dose of these vaccines as soon as we can,” said Henry.
“(But) with the new increased supply that we have, we are looking at the potential of decreasing the interval to less than 16 weeks for most people.”
She added that as vaccinations are opened up to all adults and everybody gets their first dose, they’ll be able to speed up providing a second dose as well, which is currently being looked into.
As the supply starts to increase, Henry said that clinics have been ramping up as well to ensure they’re able to deliver the vaccines that the province is expected to receive.
At this point, anyone over the age of 18 is eligible to register to receive their vaccine, which enters them into the system to be notified when they can get vaccinated.
To do so, click this link.
