There are now 106,985 cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in B.C. after health officials announced 997 new cases Tuesday.
Of the new cases, eight are epi-linked.
Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry reports that there have been 356 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 465 in the Fraser Health region, 67 in the Island Health region, 91 in the Interior Health region, 18 in the Northern Health Region and no new cases from people who reside outside of Canada.
There are currently 3,766 confirmed COVID-19 cases that are variants of concern in our province. "Additional whole genome sequencing has not been completed since the last report," adds Henry. Of the total cases, 266 are active and the remaining people have recovered. This includes 2,837 cases of the B.1.1.7 (U.K.) variant, 51 cases of the B.1.351 (South Africa) variant and 878 cases of the P.1 (Brazil) variant.
“To date, 946,096 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca-SII COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in B.C., 87,504 of which are second doses. This is almost 20% of those who are eligible for a vaccine in B.C.," said Henry.
There have been two new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 1,491 deaths in British Columbia.
Of the total COVID-19 cases, 330 individuals are hospitalized, 105 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.
There are 8,728 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, with 14,602 people under public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases. A further 96,626 people who tested positive have recovered.
Immunization Plan for B.C.
B.C. is moving forward with its COVID-19 Immunization Plan ahead of schedule, launching “Get Vaccinated”--B.C.’s online and telephone registration and booking system.
The new system kicks off the next phase of the largest vaccination program in B.C. history, with millions of people expected to be immunized. There are 4.3 million people age 18 and older eligible for the vaccine, and about one in six has been vaccinated to date.
The Get Vaccinated online vaccine registration and booking system for B.C.’s age-based immunization program is open for everyone to register and then later book their vaccine appointment when eligible.
So far, over 305,000 people have registered in the vaccination program.
“People 70 and older, Indigenous peoples 18 and over, and individuals who have received their ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ letter may book appointments," explains Henry.
“The parallel, worker-focused program remains a priority, and scheduling of vaccines will resume as more vaccine becomes available.
“Today, the National Advisory Committee on Immunizations provided clear advice on vaccine doses, confirming that up to 16 weeks between doses provides for the greatest level of community-wide protection and is therefore optimal for everyone, irrespective of any underlying health condition."
--With files from Cindy E. Hartnett.
