Rollout of the first approved COVID-19 vaccine will being in B.C. in mid-December, with a priority on healthcare workers in the Lower Mainland. (The Canadian Press)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

VACCINE LAUNCH

Province outlines COVID-19 vaccine distribution, doses to Island Health by early January

Dec 9, 2020 | 3:56 PM

NANAIMO — The end of COVID-19 is on the horizon but not without a lot of hard work yet to be done, according to public health officials

Health Canada approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on Wednesday, Dec. 9 with B.C. detailing its rollout later in the afternoon.

The first batch of the vaccine destined for B.C., around 3,900 total doses, will be delivered to two sites in Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health next week.

“Eventually everybody who can and wants to get a vaccine will have access, but to be clear this will not happen right away,” Dr. Bonnie Henry, provincial health officer, said. “We all need to continue to protect each other, by taking those measures that prevent transmission of this virus.”

The challenge in transporting and storing the Pfizer vaccine requires people traveling to immunization sites to get vaccinated, rather than delivering the vaccine around B.C.

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The vaccine must be given in two doses, 21 days apart. Public health anticipates the Pfizer vaccine will be in all health authorities by the first week of January.

An initial rollout will be exclusively for healthcare workers in long term care homes and those on the front lines of the COVID-19 response, Dr. Henry said. Long term care residents and other seniors are also high on the province’s priority list.

Subsequent immunization priorities include people who are underhoused, homeless and those in remote, Indigenous communities.

Dr. Henry noted the Pfizer vaccine is not licensed for use on people under 16-years-old, those who are pregnant or have compromised immune systems.

Future vaccines are expected to be more suitable for those groups.

The province is expecting to receive tens of thousands of doses into early 2021.

Public health is eyeing 400,000 people immunized in the province by the end of March, with Easter seen as a potential tipping point in B.C.’s fight against COVID-19.

“We are taking a very thoughtful approach to how we use the scant resources we have at the beginning,” Dr. Henry said. We absolutely expect to have a lot of vaccine coming online after the first few months of 2021 and it will be available in many different places for everyone.”

It is expected other vaccine candidates, including one from Moderna, currently under Health Canada review, will be easier to transport and open up more opportunities to immunize a wider population.

With multiple vaccines and more doses available, the province will move through a priority list based on risk of suffering complications from COVID-19.

Public health reported five new cases within Island Health, part of 619 total cases discovered across B.C.

Only a handful of new cases for Island Health is the lowest increase in a single report since Nov. 7.

Across B.C., 9,329 cases are currently active in all health authorities. The number active in Island Health went down by nearly a quarter to 158, from 207 on Tuesday. Of the active cases, 71 are in the central region, 57 to the south and 30 to the north.

The number of people in hospital dropped slightly to 338, 75 of whom are in intensive care. Eight people are in hospital in Island Health, four of whom are receiving critical care.

For the second straight day, B.C. reported 16 fatalities linked to COVID-19, bringing the provincial death toll to 559 including seven within Island Health.

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