People age 12 to 17 can now register for COVID-19 vaccinations, B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said Wednesday, as the province announced 521 new cases, including 18 in Island Health.
Dix said more details will be provided today. “This is exciting news for a lot of families, news that people have been waiting for for a long time and we’re encouraging people to get out and register.”
Youth who register will be vaccinated at health authority-led COVID-19 clinics rather than schools, since the clinics are working well around the province, said Dix.
An exception will be for students in rural and remote communities where whole-community vaccinations were done and where “the practical place to do the immunization may might well be the school,” said Dix.
Teri Mooring, president of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation, said the province should make an effort to ensure vaccinations for youth are as accessible as possible to everyone, which means schools shouldn’t be ruled out.
There are some large schools in hard-hit areas, and using school facilities to vaccinate 1,000-plus students makes sense, said Mooring.
“We have families where parents work a couple of jobs, are essential workers, etc., [and] taking their child to a clinic is difficult,” said Mooring, noting other vaccinations take place in schools. “Vaccinations could be done safely, conveniently and quickly in school settings.”
Winona Waldron, president of the Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association, said she is thrilled to hear that the province will begin vaccinating 12- to 17-year-olds, which will make it safer for everybody.
As for where to do it, she said teachers have reported that the provincial clinics are efficient and effective and students who typically have anxiety around needles can be accompanied by their parents.
“It’s amazing the momentum with how quickly things are happening, and it feels like it might be reasonable to think of September as being a pretty normal school year — I’ve been really cautious about thinking that way, but it seems that with these announcements happening, and more and more of the community getting vaccinated, I think it’s much more likely to be back to normal, which would be such a huge relief.”
There have been 2.6 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines administered in B.C., about 135,000 of which are second doses.
On Monday, Dix said that 86 per cent of those over age 70 have received their first dose, along with 82 per cent of those over 60; 77 per cent of those over age 50; and 70 per cent of those over 40. He said on Wednesday that those numbers have increased slightly.
“Those are significant categories because, as we’ve noted from the beginning of the pandemic, it’s in those categories where the greatest risks exist, although it exists, of course, for all of us,” said Dix.
Only about half the 4.3 million eligible adults in B.C. have registered to be vaccinated. The most registrations in the past week have been in the 18-to-24-year-old category, said Dix.
To register or enquire, call 1-833-838-2323 or go online to gov.bc.ca/getvaccinated.
As of Wednesday, there were 4,815 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, 340 of those are in hospital, including 118 in intensive care. The province reported eight new COVID-19 deaths for a total of 1,658.
