BC's largest immunization ever

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - According to Dr. Richard Stanwick, Island Health’s chief medical officer, we are in the midst of “the largest and most complex immunization effort in the history of our province.”

756,080 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca-SII COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in B.C., 87,351 of which are second doses.

Vancouver Island crossed the 100,000 mark on March 26th.

Close to 800 of these were on Cortes Island, where most of the island’s non indigenous adult population received their first vaccination between March 25th and 27th. They will receive their second dose in about four months.

As a result of the outbreak last December, the Klahoose village was vaccinated in February.

A whole island vaccination took place on Read Island yesterday.

The following whole community vaccinations have taken place within the Strathcona Regional District: Sayward and Kyuquot (Mar 23), Zeballos (Mar 24) and Tahsis (Mar 29 & 30). A community wide vaccination will occur in Gold River between April 6 and 8th.

The dates for a Quadra Island whole community vaccination have not yet been determined.

The immunization campaign is not embraced by everyone. There are a number of people who do not regard COVID 19 as a significant threat and refuse to be vaccinated.

There have only been 1,500 COVID related deaths in British Columbia to date.

This is much less than 38,000 deaths, from all causes, reported in 2018.

There are no known statistics for the number of people whose lives have been scarred by COVID 19, or those who were not infected because of the province’s safety measures.

According to the World Health Organization, the number of COVID related deaths has now reached 2.8 million.

Yesterday British Columbia had the highest single day record of new COVID cases to date, 1,013 with three deaths. There are currently 7,405 active cases, 11,468 people in isolation and 301 in hospitals.

While the numbers have always been low in North Vancouver Island, they are also rising. A week ago, on March 24th, there were 17 active cases. Yesterday there was 27.

The five day old statistics for the Greater Campbell River Health Area, released yesterday, show a drop in the number of active cases from 18 to 6. However the numbers in the Comox Valley were back up to 13.

Across Vancouver Island, the last day of March was also the worst in terms of active cases: 364.

Dr. Stanwick told the media that increase is likely due to the more contagious variants and “more social interaction than we would prefer.”
For much of the last year, people infected COVID averaged less than two contacts. That number has currently risen to 4.3 contacts per case,
Masks are mandatory for all students in grades 4 to 12, and students in Kindergarten to Grade 3 are “strongly encouraged” to wear a mask indoors at all times

In their daily address, Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, said “Tomorrow, as we go into the Easter weekend, expanded visitation in all long-term care facilities throughout the province will get underway. If you are planning to visit your family member or friend, please remember that COVID-19 safety plans must continue to be followed, including wearing masks and staying away if you feel unwell.

“Right now, no one should be travelling for leisure or vacation outside of your local communities or regions. The risk for all of us is too great, which means any of our usual travel and holiday weekend gatherings need to be put on hold this year.”