There have been no new COVID-19 cases or deaths reported in B.C. long-term care homes in the past 24 hours, according to Dr. Bonnie Henry, provincial health officer.
“This really is a reflection of the vaccines that we’ve had, their use and deployment to long-term care and assisted living across this province,” said Henry.
Adrian Dix, minister of health, said 92 per cent of long-term care home residents have received their first vaccine dose.
Henry added studies from long-term care homes have shown the vaccine is 80 per cent effective two to three weeks after receiving it.
The province has administered 224,354 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, including 58,896 second doses. Henry said the provincial health authority plans to begin mass vaccination based on age within a few weeks.
So far there have been 292 adverse reactions, including 19 allergic reactions, to the vaccine — a rate of about one in 10,000 people.
Henry recently made a public health order allowing dentists, midwives, pharmacy technicians, paramedics and retired nurses to be trained to administer the vaccine.
Island Health
There are 232 active COVID-19 cases in the Island Health region, including 37 reported since yesterday. That number includes 140 in the central island region, up seven in the last 24 hours, along with 40 in the south and 52 in the north. No additional deaths were reported.
Sixteen people are hospitalized with the virus and six are in ICU, according to the B.C. government’s COVID-19 dashboard.
There were 900 COVID-19 tests completed in the past 24 hours.
Province-wide
B.C. recorded 559 new COVID-19 cases and one death over the last 24 hours. There are 4,677 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, including 238 people in hospital and 69 in critical care.
