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April 07, 2021 - 6:00 PM
Teachers at 10 Kelowna area schools thought they were going to get their COVID-19 jabs on April 1, but within hours they learned they'd beed fooled by what is being chalked up to be a communication error.
According to a teacher who was lined up to get immunized, staff at the schools that were selected for having the highest number of exposure events were elated to learn they’d get COVID-19 vaccinations.
“Through a miscommunication by Interior Health, the school district began organizing teachers to be immunized starting last weekend. We thank the school district for their quick response and for their support throughout the past year,” according to a statement attributed to Dr. Albert de Villiers, chief medical health officer.
“Unfortunately, the communication was an error and we apologize for the confusion. We recognize some staff may be disappointed to learn of this postponement, but school district staff remain prioritized among the provincial immunization plan and we look forward to resuming these immunizations in the near future.”
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When those vaccinations will eventually be given remains to be seen.
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.
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. More than 305,000 people have registered so far.
People 70 and older, Indigenous people 18 and over, and individuals who have received their 'clinically extremely vulnerable' letter may book appointments. The parallel, worker-focused program remains a priority, and scheduling of vaccines will resume as more vaccine becomes available.
In the meantime, school exposures are racking up at a relatively high rate, particularly in Kelowna.
To date, there have been 12 school exposures in the Central Okanagan and those include Bankhead Elementary, Davidson Road Elementary, Pearson Road Elementary, Hudson Road Elementary, Kelowna Secondary School, Constable Neil Bruce Middle School, KLO Middle School, Springvalley Middle School, Okanagan Mission Secondary, Chute Lake Elementary, Canyon Falls Middle School and Quigley Elementary.
The Kamloops-Thompson school district isn't much better off, though it's had half as many exposures.
Those include NorKam Secondary, Westmount Elementary, Logan Lake Elementary School, Brocklehurst Middle School, Westsyde Secondary and Arthur Stevenson Elementary.
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News from © iNFOnews, 2021