Today (Dec. 9) was a day of mixed emotions.
After Dr. Bonnie Henry unveiled B.C.'s rollout of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine in the next few months, she announced another 619 diagnosed cases in the past day, bringing the province's total to 39,337 since the pandemic hit close to one year ago.
Of those, Northern Health has 27, which brings the authority recorded number to 1,159.
There are currently 378 active cases in the region with 40 people in hospital and 14 in critical care.
There are 9,329 people listed as active for COVID-19 throughout the province, 338 are in hospital with 75 in critical care.
Another 9,329 are under active public health monitoring after being exposed to someone infected with the virus while 28,448 have been classified as fully recovered.
The past day has also seen another 16 deaths in B.C for the third day which raises the fatality rate to 559.
Dr. Henry and Premier John Horgan did announce some good news, as British Columbians will begin to be vaccinated next week with an initial 4,000 doses.
“Today is actually an incredibly important and positive day,” said provincial health officer Bonnie Henry.
She said tens of thousands of additional doses of the vaccine should be arriving in B.C. in January.
Henry said front-line health care workers will be first in line for the vaccinations. By the end of March, the province plans to have 400,000 British Columbians vaccinated – ten per cent of the population.
THREAD: #NEW: Dr. Bonnie Henry and health officials have announced more details on B.C.'s COVID-19 vaccine plans#COVIDbc #covid19bc #bcpoli #bced #cityofpg @PGMatters #bc
— Jess Balzer (@jessicajbalzer) December 9, 2020
While the elderly in long-term care homes are a priority population for COVID-19 vaccinations, they will not be among the first to receive vaccinations, due to the nature of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine, which is fussy and fragile and requires specialized storage. It can therefore not be readily brought into care homes.
Elderly residents of long-term care homes will therefore have to wait for Health Canada to approve a vaccine from Moderna, which can be more easily transported and stored.
Initially, the province will set up two vaccination sites, one in the Vancouver Coastal Health Region, the other in the Fraser Health Region. By late December or early January, nine sites will be set up throughout B.C.
Next, after front-line health care workers, priority populations to receive the vaccines will include certain vulnerable populations, including the homeless and some First Nations.
There has once again been a flurry of COVID-19 related activity in the north.
Northern Health announced this morning there have been another two positive tests at the LNG Canada Project Site in Kitimat.
There are now six active cases for the virus from the $40-billion project in Kitimat, that’s one more from the previous report on Dec. 1, all of which are quarantining in their own homes and communities.
Two new infections were also found as of Tuesday (Dec. 8), raising the total to 56 since an outbreak was declared on Nov. 19.
The remaining 50 infected workers, all contracted by JGC Fluor, have since recovered from COVID-19, Northern Health explains, and no one is self-isolating in the camp.
“Northern Health, LNG Canada, and JGC Fluor continue to work closely together to ensure enhanced control measures are followed, to protect the health of all staff,” the update continues.
“On-site screening of employees, contact management and tracing are continuing, and there continue to be no public exposures in Kitimat and the surrounding area at this time.”
#BREAKING Dr. Bonnie Henry announces 619 new COVID-19 cases in B.C. during the past 24 hours. Northern Health adds 27 for a new authority total of 1,159 #COVIDbc #covid19bc #bcpoli #bced #cityofpg @PGMatters #bc
— Jess Balzer (@jessicajbalzer) December 10, 2020
There remain four other outbreaks listed by Northern Health.
- University Hospital of Northern B.C. - Precautionary, Family Medicine Unit (outbreak declared Dec. 3)
- Gateway Lodge - Precautionary, Cedar Wing, Upper West/Second Floor West (outbreak Dec. 3)
- North Peace Seniors Housing Society apartments (on-site outbreak declared Nov. 22)
- Dawson Creek Rotary Manor (outbreak declared Nov. 2, 2020)
School exposures have also been on the rise, with another two listed today.
Anne Roberts Young Elementary School in Fort St. John and Bert Ambrose Elementary School, also in Fort St. John, are both being wanred of potential exposure on Nov. 30.
The full list of schools in the north as of publication are as follows:
- Margaret Ma Murray Community School (SD60) - Dec. 1-4, 2020; Nov. 23-26, 27, 30, 2020
- Heather Park Elementary (SD57) - Dec. 1-2, 2020
- Shas Ti-Kelly Road Secondary (SD57) - Nov. 30, Dec. 1-2, 2020
- Uplands Elementary (SD82) - Nov. 30-Dec. 1, 2020
- Fort St. James Secondary (SD91) - Nov. 19-20, 20-26, 30-Dec. 1, 2020
- Anne Roberts Young Elementary (SD60) - Nov. 30, 2020
- Bert Ambrose Elementary (SD60) - Nov. 30, 2020
- David Hoy Elementary (SD91) - Nov. 30-Dec. 1; Nov. 25-26, 2020; Sept. 17-18, 2020
- Bert Bowes Middle (SD60) - Nov. 16, 18-20, 30, 2020
- William Konkin Elementary in Burns Lake (SD91) - Nov. 16, 23-24, 23-27, 2020
- Energetic Learning Campus in Fort St. John (SD60) - Nov. 16-20, 23-27, 30, 2020
- Peden Hill Elementary (SD57) - Nov. 12-17, 17-20, 24-27, 2020
- Centennial Christian in Terrace (Independent) - Nov. 23-26, 2020
- North Peace Secondary (SD60) - Nov. 10, 12-13, 16, 19-20, 24-26, 2020
- Sacred Heart Elementary (Diocese of Prince George) - Nov. 25-27, 2020
- Nak’albun Elementary (Independent) - Nov. 22-25, 2020; Sept. 16-18, 2020
- Charlie Lake Elementary (SD60) - Nov. 23-24, 16-26, 2020
- Ecole College Heights Elementary (SD57) - Nov. 19-20, 20-24, 2020
- Beaverly Elementary (SD57) - Nov. 23-24, 2020
- Foothills Elementary (SD57) - Nov. 23, 2020
- Prince George Secondary (SD57) - Nov. 20, 2020; Oct. 2, 2020
- Dawson Creek Secondary - South Peace Campus (SD59) - Nov. 16-18, 2020; Sept. 23-25, 2020
- Chetwynd Secondary (SD59) - Nov. 13, 2020
- Van Bien Elementary (SD57) - Nov. 9-10, 2020
- Ron Brent Elementary (SD57) - Oct. 30, 2020
- Hudson's Hope Elementary-Junior Secondary (SD60) - Oct. 26-Nov. 4, 2020
- Immaculate Conception School (Diocese of Prince George) - Oct. 21-23, 2020
- Roosevelt Park Elementary (SD52) - Oct. 21-22, 2020
- Fort Nelson Secondary (SD81) - Oct. 15-16, 2020
- Notre Dame in Dawson Creek (Private) - Oct. 13-14, 2020
- Quesnel Junior Secondary (SD28) - Sept. 10-11, 15-18, 2020
- Ecole Frank Ross Elementary (SD59) - Sept. 10-11, 2020
There was some excitement this afternoon from Dr. Henry after Health Canada officially approved Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine.
Dr. Supriya Sharma, the chief medical adviser at Health Canada who oversaw the review process, said it is "a critical milestone in our fight against COVID-19."
"This is a momentous occasion," she said, unable to hold back a big smile. "The geek in me is amazed. No one would have thought as we looked back at the first discovery of the virus that less than a year later we'd be authorizing and then distributing the vaccine."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday (Dec. 7) Canada's updated contract with the U.S. drugmaker and its German partner should see 249,000 doses shipped to Canada by the end of the month. But that was always pending the vaccine being deemed safe by Health Canada.
The regulatory team issued that determination at 6 a.m. Pacific time today (Dec. 9), and it was announced to the public two hours later. Sharma said Canadians should feel comfortable getting the vaccine when they are eligible to do so.
"Canadians can have confidence in our rigorous review process and that the vaccine was authorized only after a thorough assessment of the evidence demonstrated that it met Health Canada's strict standards for safety, efficacy and quality."
Sharma said while there is never zero risk in taking any kind of pharmaceutical, Health Canada is confident the benefits of the vaccine in protecting people against COVID-19 outweigh any dangers.
Adverse reactions to the vaccine have mainly been pain at the injection site, followed by fatigue and headaches.
Canada is the third country in the world to greenlight the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
- With files from Kyle Balzer, PrinceGeorgeMatters, Nelson Bennett, Business In Vancouver and The Canadian Press
