B.C.’s Health Minister says the province will reach one million COVID-19 vaccine doses administered by the end of the week.

Adrian Dix says last Thursday, before the long weekend, 41,000 vaccine doses were administered, which is a one-day record for the province.

“We’ve had some very strong days of people being immunized…. As of end of the day (Sunday), 893,590 doses administered. And 806,117 first doses; that’s 18.7 per cent [of residents],” Dix says.

Online booking also opened this morning province-wide for booking vaccines, for Interior Health and all other health authorities, where people can register and be notified later when their age cohort is able to book an appointment.

Dix is asking people to register today only if they are 65 and older.

The page to register for an appointment online can be found here. Residents can also register and book an appointment over the phone or at a ServiceBC office. The phone number to call and book is now 1-833-838-2323.

Right now, anyone born in 1950 or earlier, any Indigenous residents born in 2003 or earlier, and anyone who is “extremely clinically vulnerable” born in 2005 or earlier can book an appointment.

Dix also says the AstraZeneca vaccine will be available at Kamloops pharmacies by “the end of this week,” for adults between 55 and 65 years old. Doses of that vaccine are currently suspended in B.C., and many other jurisdictions, for people between 18 and 54 years old, after several cases of blood clotting reported in Europe.

“So we’re hopeful, we’re not waiting, for the safety signal for people who are younger to go away. We’re proceeding with that [for adults 55 to 65 years old], and there’s been a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of people booking for that. So that vaccine is being distributed around B.C.,” Dix says.