A covid-19 vaccine is expected to arrive in B.C. by next week. (Image by fernando zhiminaicela from pixabay.com.)
A covid-19 vaccine will be in B.C. by next week. This is fantastic news, because everyone I know is done with the pandemic. We’re all burned out, fed up, grumpy. B.C. alone had 28 deaths from covid-19 in a single day this week, a number we used to think was a bad day for total cases. So a vaccine is excellent news, even though we know it is going to take months or even a year to get enough people vaccinated that it’s safe to gather again.
“We are not going to have enough vaccine in the first few months that it’s going to make a difference in community transmission,” Dr. Henry said. “That light at the end of the tunnel is there and we need to do our piece to protect those people who are at risk of dying.”
The first people to get the vaccine will be health care workers in long-term care homes, then residents of long-term care homes and people who are older than 80.
That’s a priority list developed nationally, which then moves to those between 70 and 80 and health care workers with direct contact with patients, and then Indigenous adults. After that, come other health care workers, people who live in group settings and then essential workers, all before the general public.
Health Canada approved the Pfizer vaccine on Dec. 9, but other vaccines are expected over the next several months in the most complex immunization program ever delivered in B.C.
Both the Pfizer vaccine and the Moderna vaccine, which is expected to be approved next, are “messenger RNA vaccines.”
“That means that we’ve taken a piece of the genetic code from the virus that helps translate into the spike protein – that little spiky bit on the outside of the virus – and that protein then is produced by our cells and our immune system responds to that to develop anti-bodies,” Dr. Henry said. “And then if we’re exposed to the virus, we have those antibodies that attach to it and protect us and prevent us from becoming ill.”
Dr. Henry says the RNA material is synthetic and can be produced quickly. On the downside, the Pfizer vaccine needs to be kept frozen and is very difficult to transport.
So far, it’s not approved for children, women who are pregnant or people with immune-compromised systems, Dr. Henry said.
The vaccine requires two doses at least 21 days apart and full immunity is achieved seven days after the second dose, she said.
The first small batches, will be administered in two secret locations. They’re being kept secret because around the world, threats have been made against the vaccines.
“There has been a concerted effort to try to interrupt the cold chain and sabotage vaccination efforts,” Dr. Henry said.
There will likely be hiccups along the way, Dr. Henry said, but her hope is that whoever wants a vaccine in B.C. will be able to get one by next fall. “I do have to warn you, it’s going to be a bit of a road yet,” Dr. Henry said.
Here are the other developments this week:
- Britain gave its first coronavirus vaccines this week, calling the occasion V-Day. They’re also using the Pfizer vaccine for this first roll out. On that first day, two health care workers had serious allergic reactions, the BBC reported.
- Along with the vaccine, people in Britain are being given wallet-size cards with the record of their vaccination, the New York Times reports. Apparently, this is causing concern that the cards could be used like a passport, to allow holders into restaurants or onto airplanes. Dr. Henry confirmed there would be something similar in B.C. and perhaps even an electronic record.
- Alberta imposed new restrictions this week, the Globe and Mail reported. Some of those restrictions – like closed casinos and nightclubs and a ban on gatherings – have been in place in B.C. for some time now, while others are not in place in B.C. Alberta's new restrictions include moving restaurants to only takeout or delivery, and closing businesses like hair salons. Businesses will be required to have people work from home, while in B.C. that is a recommendation rather than a requirement.
- The cost of personal protective equipment, like masks, in the medical setting has gone through the roof during the pandemic. B.C.’s Health Minister Adrian Dix said at a covid briefing that N95 masks sold for about 62 cents before covid hit and went up to between $5 and $9 in the spring. Now they’re back down to between $1.50 and $9, he said.
- Dr. Bonnie Henry said B.C. won’t be closing schools early for winter break because, although there have been a lot of exposures in schools, there has not been a lot of transmission. “Schools really are a safe place,” Dr. Henry said. “We made the decision that the downsides of (closing) would be far greater.”
- There is a covid-19 outbreak at a mink farm in the Fraser Valley. This is being taken very seriously because there have been mutations in the virus through minks in other parts of the world, Dr. Henry said.
- Four lions in a Barcelona zoo tested positive for covid-19, Reuters reported.
- Former New York mayor and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani tested positive for covid-19 and was hospitalized, the New York Times reports.
- Some Canadians are still planning to visit friends and family or travel at Christmas, despite pleas from health officials to stay home, a survey from the Angus Reid Institute found. Thirty per cent said they would visit friends and family, while 10 per cent said they plan to travel outside of their communities for the holidays, the online survey of 5,003 Canadian adults held Nov. 24 to 30 found. However, most Canadians do appear to be taking the pandemic seriously – more than 60 per cent said they are now seeing two or fewer people from outside their household.
By this time next week, some British Columbians will have been vaccinated. Let’s hope it goes according to plan.
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