B.C. gave its first COVID-19 immunizations on Dec. 15, 2020. Four and a half months later, the province is booking appointments for those 58 and older. Photo: B.C. government.
B.C. is now booking COVID-19 vaccine appointments for people aged 58 and older. Mind you, that doesn’t mean they’re getting their vaccines today, it just means they can book an appointment for some time in the future.
Seven weeks ago, someone I know who is 80 got the jab. It has taken seven weeks to vaccinate 22 birth years’ worth of British Columbians. Our top doctor, Dr. Bonnie Henry, says that in another seven weeks, all adults in the province who want to be vaccinated will have received one dose. From 58 to 18 is 40 years, so by my reckoning, it might take at least another three months get that many vaccines done. I guess time will tell who’s correct.
Dr. Henry did say that supply is expected to be much greater in May and June, so perhaps we will be able to speed everything up enough to get everyone immunized by mid-June. I sure hope so, especially since B.C.’s intensive care units are now at the highest-ever level with 178 active COVID-19 patients in ICU. So called “non-urgent” surgeries are being put on hold in Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health, with nearly 400 surgeries postponed between April 19 and 25.
Most of the people in hospital are older than 40 and were not vaccinated when they became ill, Dr. Henry said. Although some people who have received one dose of COVID-19 vaccine have still become infected with the virus, the rate of infection is much lower than in those who have not been vaccinated, she said.
Although the United States is now vaccinating all adults older than 18, they’re still seeing about 55,000 new cases every day. In Washington State, where the population is 7.6 million, compared to B.C.’s 5.1 million, they’re still seeing more than 1,500 new cases every day.
Dr. Henry said she has been in talks with Washington and Alaska to share vaccine with British Columbians and this did happen a bit up north. There is nothing concrete yet planned for Washington, but stay tuned, particularly about Point Roberts, she said.
Here at home, Dr. Henry was forced to apologize after a pop-up vaccine clinic in Surrey took on an unanticipated life of its own, that the Daily Hive compared to the Hunger Games, a fictional game in a movie in which children compete in a death match each year.
"I absolutely apologize to people for the miscommunications and confusion," Dr. Henry said.
Meanwhile, here’s the rest of the news.
- “Hyper hygiene” may not be a good thing, because microbes are important for health. So all that sanitizing to prevent COVID-19 may have other effects, an interesting New York Times opinion piece says.
- India reported 345,000 new COVID-19 cases in a single day, the most ever recorded in one country. India is the second-most populated country in the world, after China. Here’s a description of what it’s like in India right now, written by the New York Times correspondent in that country – click here.
- B.C. introduced travel restrictions that ban people from travelling outside of their health region for non-essential reasons. However, the Fraser and Vancouver Coastal health regions are considered to be one region and the Northern and Interior health regions are considered to be another region. Work, healthcare, attending court and other reasons are considered essential. The restrictions will be in place at least until May 25 and apply to everyone in the province. $575 fines can be handed out for breaking these rules.
- After the federal government banned flights from India and Pakistan for 30 days, there was concern that people from those countries or with relatives in those countries might be subject to racism, which has increased during the pandemic. Rachna Singh, B.C.’s parliamentary secretary for anti-racism initiatives said anyone witnessing racism should report it. “As a society, we have a decision to make about which side of history we want to be on,” Singh said in a statement. “We must take a stand against racism and we must not let stereotypes prevail. The stress of the pandemic does not give anyone the right to spread prejudice and hate. This is about fighting the COVID-19 virus, not our fellow British Columbians.”
- Pfizer is at work on a pill that could stop COVID-19 and maybe even the common cold, the Telegraph reports.
- New data from Statistics Canada found there were 16,333 more deaths in Canada in 2020 than would have been expected if there were no pandemic and 20,619 more deaths than in 2019. Pandemic data shows that there were 14,965 deaths in Canada in 2020 that were directly caused by COVID-19.
- A woman aged 54 has died from a blood clot after having the AstraZeneca vaccine. This is the first death associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine in Canada, the CBC reports.
- There have been some reports of heart inflammation after the Pfizer vaccine, Reuters reports.
- Research out of California found that offering paid sick time could have avoided a lot of COVID-19 illness and deaths, the Guardian reports. In B.C., Premier Horgan has said his government is working on a paid sick leave plan. In Ontario, employers must now provide three paid sick days per employee, and the provincial government will reimburse the cost, the Globe and Mail reports.
- Toronto Dr. Michael Werner tweeted that he is seeing patients in the ICU who have had their first shot but not their second shot.
- The Canadian Military is now helping out in some provinces that are hard hit by COVID-19, the Canadian Press reports.
- More than five British Columbians lost their lives to toxic drug overdoses in the first three months of 2021, the BC Coroner reported. That’s 158 deaths in March and 498 for the year to date. Comparing that to COVID-19, 104 people died in March in B.C. from COVID-19 and 558 between January 1 and March 31. B.C. definitely has two health emergencies ongoing at the same time, both deserving of attention and action to combat them.
- A B.C. judge compared a man’s actions in hosting COVID-19 parties to selling fentanyl, the Canadian Press reports.
- Dr. Henry is encouraging all British Columbians to complete the new COVID-19 survey, available online here.
Maybe by next week, I can write about what it’s like to be vaccinated. Or at least how it feels to have an appointment.
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