FILE PHOTO - Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry speaks at media briefing on COVID-19 in Victoria, Oct. 14, 2021.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED / Province of B.C.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is not one to telegraph her moves, whether that’s adding to or subtracting from COVID restrictions.

In her weekly news briefing today, March 1, she hinted very strongly that things are going to ease in time for Spring Break, which starts in B.C. on March 14.

That means an announcement is likely to be made next week, but don’t throw out your masks and put your B.C. vaccine card away.

“We still have a significant number of people in hospital so we have to continue to be cautious,” Dr. Henry said. “We are in a transition phase. We do not yet know enough about this virus from an epidemiologic point of view for us to consider it endemic.”

B.C. is not much different from other provinces in the timing of restriction easing and some rules were less strict in B.C. than in other provinces, she said.

While she’s talking to school officials about how to get schools back to near normal before the end of the school year, it’s still going to be important to wear masks and use vaccine cards in some settings and those may be different in different places.

READ MORE: Omicron infections slow to decline in Interior Health due to low vaccination rate

“We are moving to a transition where people have to make those decisions for themselves around what are the important things you need to do,” Dr. Henry said. “We know there are people in our workplaces, people in our social networks, who are immune compromised, who are older, who we want to spend time with where we know the vaccines don’t work as well, where we know their immune systems aren’t as strong. Yes, we all need to continue to be respectful. We need to have a mask-positive environment.”

That means supporting people who choose to wear masks when they are not legally required to do so and supporting businesses that may continue to require people to show vaccine cards in order to enter, she said.

Dr. Henry, however, did not go any further in hinting when, or what, COVID rules will be relaxed.

The spread of the virus is declining in most parts of the province but there are still areas where vaccination rates are low.

The Omicron BA.2 variant is also popping up in clusters in the province. It seems to spread more easily but does not seem to cause more serious illness or be any more resistant to vaccines that the regular Omicron variant.

There is also a BA.3 variant and a Delta-Omicron variant being seen in some parts of the world but they have not yet shown up in B.C.

Whatever the relaxation of rules turns out to be, Dr. Henry continues to warn that, when respiratory illness season comes around next fall and winter, COVID may also see a resurgence and could have a more serious variant by then.

It seems likely that a fourth vaccine dose will be needed for older residents and those with compromised immune systems, Dr. Henry said. She doesn’t expect that to happen for weeks or months yet, despite the fact that Ontario has started with four doses for some residents.

B.C. residents have stronger immune responses because they had to wait longer between first and second vaccine doses than those in Ontario, she said.

“I am very optimistic we are moving to a better place rapidly, and I will have more to say about that very soon,” Dr. Henry said. “But we will take it slowly and sustainably as we move into the next little part.”

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