All long-term care residents, staff offered COVID-19 vaccine in B.C.
Posted January 29, 2021 4:24 pm.
Last Updated January 30, 2021 9:12 am.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Every resident and staff member in long-term care across the province has been offered the COVID-19 shot, the provincial health officer said Friday.
Dr. Bonnie Henry provided the good news as she explained B.C. has administered 124,979 doses total, with 4,252 of those being the second dose.
Health Minister Adrian Dix said the immunizations are making a difference in outbreaks in healthcare.
“We had, two weeks ago, 42 outbreaks in long-term care. we now have 23 active outbreaks. We had seven outbreaks in assisted living and independent living combined. We now have two,” he said.
The deadly outbreak at Little Mountain Place is now over, as are the ones at Morgan Place and Mayfair Seniors Living care. One new outbreak was confirmed at Holy Family long-term care.
This comes as the province reported 514 new infections and that five people have died from the virus.
BC #covid19 update Jan 29
The good:
Active cases in LTC residents/staff going down
Avg deaths/day in Jan finally below 10
The bad:
People are still dying
Active cases still going up
New cases still high – plateaued…#bcpoli @news1120 https://t.co/9g3cA0gJR1 pic.twitter.com/XE3NLbqYUd— LizaYuzda (@LizaYuzda) January 29, 2021
Ongoing vaccine supply issues
Vaccine supply remains an issue in the province.
There won’t be any Pfizer shipments arriving next week and the following two weeks will have reduced shipments. Next week’s Moderna deliveries have been reduced by 20 per cent, due to difficulties at the processing plant.
“This is disappointing for all of us,” Henry said. “We are working with what we have available to best address those most at risk.”
RELATED: First day of COVID-19 shots in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside
She explained the number of doses B.C. is receiving is expected to increase by the third week of February while she maintained confidence the province will meet its immunization plan objectives.
By the end of March, Henry believes all high-priority people will have been immunized.
During Friday’s briefing, Henry confirmed she has not yet received her second dose of vaccine for the virus.
“I absolutely believe in the data that we have that shows extending the interval between dose one and dose two is not only safe, but there’s a very real probability that it will provide more durable and longer-lasting protection. I will be waiting until there’s sufficient vaccine available later on in the Spring.”
Some people in B.C. will have to wait 42 days to get fully immunized because deliveries new stock from Pfizer and Moderna have been delayed.
While there weren’t any new outbreaks in the community, Henry said transmission is still happening.
Q re transmissions
DBH – 30-40% of cases now are related to work places.
Not so much public interface – those shopping – it’s those working together. working with worksafe inspections, investigations#bcpoli @news1130 #covid19— LizaYuzda (@LizaYuzda) January 30, 2021
The number of active cases in B.C. rose by 102, reaching 4,557.
There are 292 patients in hospital because of the virus, with 74 in critical care.
Since the start of the pandemic, 66,779 people have tested positive for the virus.
Next week, current provincial health orders will be addressed. Restrictions were implemented to stop the spread of the virus and cases numbers have remained high.
