"I think it's going to be a success": Dix optimistic Walk-in Wednesday will drive up vaccination

It’s still early in the day, but Health Minister Adrian Dix is confident that British Columbia’s first Walk-in Wednesday will be a success.

Part of the provincial government’s Vax for BC campaign, Walk-in Wednesday has an estimated 20,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine currently reserved at immunization clinics. Those over the age of 12 who are in need of their first dose or eligible to receive their second can attend.

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“I think it’s going to be a success because I think people want to be vaccinated in BC,” Dix tells Daily Hive in an interview. “We’re taking all the steps and have been for the last period to get everyone vaccinated, so Walk-In Wednesday is one step in that.”

Many of BC’s immunization clinics will continue to offer walk-in COVID-19 vaccinations, even after Wednesday.

When asked about measuring the success of Walk-in Wednesday, Dix says he hopes to see an increase in vaccination levels among young people, specifically in areas where COVID-19 transmission is currently high.

“We’re hoping for a good first response among young people in areas where COVID-19 transmission is relatively high — Central Okanagan comes to mind, of course.”

“In some ways, its success is going to be seeing, we hope, more vaccination in places such as Kelowna and Vanderhoof than in Vancouver, where vaccination rates are very high, but we want to be very successful everywhere, of course.”

Dix explains that Walk-in Wednesday also presents a learning opportunity to help officials better communicate and get the COVID-19 vaccine to more people.

“We want to be very successful everywhere, of course,” he notes. “We’re going to see very strong numbers, and then we’re going to keep going.”