There were 18 new COVID-19 cases reported in Island Health over the weekend — the region now has 64 active cases. Of these, 29 are in the central island, 28 are in the south and seven are in the north. There are seven people hospitalized in the health region, including one in ICU, according to the BC Centre for Disease Control (BC CDC).
Across the province there were 708 new cases reported over the weekend and there are now 2,953 active cases, according to Dr. Bonnie Henry, provincial health officer. There are 249 people hospitalized with the virus, 78 of whom are in critical care. Henry said 11 more people died from COVID-19 over the weekend, including a woman in her forties.
B.C. recorded its third case of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia, a rare blood clotting side-effect linked to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. The patient, a man in his thirties, is recovering in a hospital in the Island Health region, Henry said.
The province has administered 3,250,161 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, 179,954 of these were second doses, Henry said. She added the province anticipates more deliveries of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in the coming weeks.
The province will provide guidance on Thursday for people who received a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine wondering what to do for their booster shot.
“A second dose is necessary to maximize our protection and for the maximum amount of time,” Henry said.
Across B.C., 139,562 people have recovered from COVID-19, including 4,912 in Island Health.
