Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, have issued the following joint statement regarding updates on the COVID-19 response in British Columbia:
“Today, we are reporting 1,168 new cases, for a total of 114,870 cases in British Columbia.
“There are 9,821 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, with 16,304 people under public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases. A further 103,360 people who tested positive have recovered.
“Of the active cases, 397 individuals are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 120 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.
“Since we last reported, we have had 341 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 632 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 64 in the Island Health region, 105 in the Interior Health region, 26 in the Northern Health region and no new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.
“There have been six new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 1,521 deaths in British Columbia.
“1,190,832 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca-SII COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in B.C., 87,820 of which are second doses.
“We strongly encourage everyone who is now eligible for a vaccine to arrange for your appointment today. This not only protects you, but also provides greater protection to everyone around you.
“Everyone 55 and older is eligible for a vaccine today. The Astra Zeneca vaccine is available for anyone 55 and over through your local pharmacy. People 64 and older and Indigenous peoples 18 and over, as well as individuals who have received a ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ letter, are being invited to book through the Get Vaccinated program.
“We are pleased to see today’s Health Canada assessment and decision on the AstraZeneca vaccine. We’ve been following this closely, and we await the recommendations from the National Advisory Council on Immunization to determine how to best use this vaccine going forward to further enhance our protection.
“Always using our layers of protection, combined with getting one of the safe and highly effective vaccines as soon as you are eligible, is the best way to stop the spread of COVID-19 in our communities. Let’s continue to do our part so we can all put COVID-19 behind us.”