Workers at northern B.C.'s industrial projects and sites will get priority for the next shipment of AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Northern Health said about 15,000 doses of the vaccine will arrive in the region in the next few days and, form there, got to workforces at the LNG Canada, Coastal GasLink, Trans Mountain Pipeline and BC Hydro Site C projects as well as the Rio Tinto Alcan smelter in Kitimat.
"Additional industrial settings will be targeted in the coming weeks," Northern Health said.
It said the campaign to vaccinate seniors 80 years of age and older, and Indigenous people 65 and older will continue and remain unaffected.
"Northern Health is helping to facilitate the immunization effort, and industry will be responsible for delivering vaccine to their workforces, at their own clinic sites," officials said.
"This, along with the Phase 2 – seniors 80 years of age and older, and Indigenous people 65 and older - will provide more protection for rural, remote and First Nations communities ahead of the start of Phase 3 in April."
Meanwhile, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control reported 36 new cases of COVID-19 for the Northern Health region on Wednesday. The count was below the seven-day moving average of 45.4 as of Tuesday.
Active cases stood at 304, down by five from Tuesday.
Hospitalizations stood at 27, down by three, with 13 in intensive care, down by one. No new deaths were reported for the region.
Province-wide, 498 new cases were reported along with four more deaths, raising the total to 1,411 since the pandemic broke out. As of Tuesday, the seven-day rolling average for active cases was 539.1.
Active cases stood at 4,851, down by 148, with 281 hospitalized and 83 of them in intensive care, both down by one respectively.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has meant that how we spend time with family and friends is different than what we did before. As we did last summer, it means using our layers of protection and always having safety top of mind," provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and health minister Adrian Dix said in a joint statement.
"We can renew those important social connections, and the public health orders now allow for outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people in public spaces or outside our homes.
"If you choose to see others, then please connect safely, so you are not inadvertently increasing the risks to your loved ones or yourself.
"Some may choose a day of snowshoeing, others a bike ride with friends or a playdate at your local beach. The key is to keep it small, to keep to the same group of people and to keep using your protective layers.
"This is a time of hope and renewal for all of us. Let's continue to work together to get to the brighter days ahead."
