Dr. Bonnie Henry, Feb. 23, 2021.
Image Credit: FACEBOOK/BC Government
February 23, 2021 - 3:46 PM
There were no COVID-19 infections or deaths in B.C.’s long-term care or assisted living facilities in the last 24 hours, marking a time the province’s top doctor said is defined by “vaccine hope and pandemic reality.”
“This really is a reflection of the vaccines that we have had, and their use and deployment to long term care and assisted living across this province,” provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said today, Feb. 23.
“It really is remarkable that the effects of even a single dose…is upwards of 80% within two to three weeks of receiving the vaccine. This is a success that we need to appreciate and celebrate, even as we are preparing now to be able to provide more vaccines to more people in our communities.”
Dr. Henry said that since the start of the immunization program, 287,950 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in B.C., and 58,896 people have received a second dose.
Most of those who have been vaccinated are seniors and elders in long-term care, and within the next two weeks she said everyone over the age of 80 years old but not in care will be contacted for their turn to get their jabs. How those shots will be distributed has yet to be laid out, though Dr. Henry said it will be through both clinics and a "more tailored approach."
While the vaccine program is starting to both step up and show positive returns, Dr. Henry said there have been some issues with how it's received.
Around 10 per 100,000 doses of the vaccine yield a negative reaction, like anaphylaxis or an allergic reaction.
“That is something that we have seen across the world with COVID vaccines and with all vaccines, and we are prepared in our immunization clinics to make sure that we can handle these,” she said.
While long-term care and assisted living infections are down, the number of cases across the province is staying fairly constant if not growing slightly and that’s something that Dr. Henry said that they are “managing as aggressively as they can.”
“It is concerning that we are seeing an increase in percent positivity in our seven day rolling average of cases, in particularly again in the Lower Mainland,” she said.
There were 559 new COVID-19 cases diagnosed across B.C. in the last 24 hours, raising the provincial total to 77,822.
Of the new cases, 132 are in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 278 are in the Fraser Health region, 39 are people in Vancouver Island health 43 people live in the Interior Health region, 66 people are in the Northern Health region and one is someone who normally resides outside of Canada.
We're now up to 4,677 active cases in all health authorities across the province, of whom 238 people are currently in hospital and 69 are in critical care or ICU.
In the last 24 hours one person died from COVID-19, bringing the total number of people we have lost in this province to 1,336.
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