B.C.’s top doctor says the province will be reaching a COVID-19 vaccine milestone today.
Dr. Bonnie Henry says at some point this afternoon, the two-millionth vaccine dose will be administered.
At time of posting, there have been 1,995,496 administered to just over 1.9 million people. That means more than 52,200 vaccine doses were administered in the past day. As of Monday, daily new vaccine doses arriving in B.C. are almost double what they were for most of April.
As of today, anyone born in 1972 or earlier in B.C. is eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, as well as anyone born in 2005 or earlier who is pregnant or is considered “clinically extremely vulnerable” because of a health condition. Any Indigenous person born in 2003 or earlier is also eligible to receive a vaccine.
Further, people aged 40 and up (born in 1981 or earlier) will be eligible to book their shot next week.
“The age for booking is going to be dropping precipitously over the next weeks,” Health Minister Adrian Dix said Thursday.
“We will be setting more records in the coming weeks in terms of vaccination. So this is the time for everybody – I mean everybody – especially in communities that have higher rates of transmission, but everywhere in B.C., everyone to register for their COVID-19 vaccine.”
First blood clot linked to AstraZeneca vaccine reported in B.C.
Meanwhile, Dr. Henry also reported the first blood clot caused by the AstraZeneca vaccine in B.C. She says a woman in her 40s in the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority is being treated in hospital. The woman had the adverse reaction either five or six days after receiving the vaccine, according to Henry.
“It can be alarming to hear of this blood clot, but it is rare,” Henry says, noting the risk of an adverse reaction to the AstraZeneca vaccine is about one in 100,000.
“There is however a test that can help determine if you do have this syndrome and there is treatment, but of course recognizing symptoms and getting treatment early is important,” Henry added.
“The potential for this blood clot to develop is between day four and day 28 after you’ve received your vaccine. If you have symptoms that are concerning such as a persistent severe headache, shortness of breath, chest pain or severe abdominal pain, and swelling or redness in a limb. These are things that should provoke you get treatment and an assessment right away.”
Today, the province reported 694 new COVID-19 cases and one death from the virus.
The lone death was reported in Interior Health, where there were 52 total new cases as well. Elsewhere, there are 445 new cases in Fraser Health, 155 in Vancouver Coastal Health, 27 in Northern Health and 17 in Island Health.
There are now 457 people in hospital with COVID-19 with 154 of those people in critical care. Active cases provincewide are at 6,802 people.
