Third dose vaccines for immune compromised; vaccine mandates for Health Workers among topics for renewed COVID update for Monday

Doctor Bonnie Henry outlined some notes today on 
the roll out of the vaccine card and vaccination requirements
for those working in the BC health care sector 

The first point of discussion for this afternoons COVID update from Health Minister Adrian Dix and  Public Health Officer Doctor Bonnie Henry was to announce that the weekly COVID updates were back, with the weekly state of the virus themes to resume next Tuesday.

The return of the weekly update presentation, some three months since they came to an end in more optimistic times of June, reinforced for residents in BC that the current situation of increasing cases and vaccine hesitancy for some is an important moment for the COVID response in the province.

Both Doctor Henry and Minister Dix spoke to the debut of the vaccine status cards today, which so far have seen 2.1 million British Columbians register for their cards as of today.

With patience the word of the day both for those trying to access their card and for those who may be using it and may be finding some challenges on the day.

Along with a reminder to be kind to those working in establishments now required to determine our vaccine status.

The pace of vaccination also provided for some of the current of the information relay on the day, with the two officials noting that 4 Million British Columbians have received at least a first dose of the COVID vaccine a rate of 85%, with 78.4% now listed as fully vaccinated.

Health Minister Adrian Dix

The Health Minister noting that young people are leading the way for the province's vaccination program with an 87% rate for those from 18-24. Those 12-17 who were the last to be vaccinated account for 80% to date.

The importance of increasing that rate was all outlined at today's briefing, with the health officials noting that of the 139 currently in critical care in BC,  121 of them are unvaccinated.

That impact on hospitals and ICU wards has meant for some surgery postponements in many Health authority's, though last week did not see any of those postponements take place in the Northern Health region.

Two other notes of interest were relayed this afternoon, the first related to the prospect of a third shot, or booster shot as some describe it, those for now are to be limited to those British Columbians with immune compromised status, they will receive a text or email this week to advise of their next shot.

Workers at Health Care facilities such as PRRH will be required to
have been fully vaccinated by October 26th

As well it was announced that by October 26th all of those employees working in health care facilities in the province will need to be vaccinated, a requirement that covers everyone from doctors and nurses on though volunteers and contractors working in hospitals and those who visit patients in their homes.

The requirement will be a condition of employment and those who choose not be immunized against COVID could be taking a leave without pay.

The full information session and the follow up questions from reporters can be reviewed below:

The latest COVID statistics for Monday were released following the 3 PM conference, they note of 1,984 new cases of COVID over the weekend, making for a total of 175,142 cases in the province.

In the Northern Health Region, there were 294 new cases reported over the weekend, with 931 total active cases across the North.

The full overview is available from this information release.

More on the provincial response can be reviewed from our archive page here.