Health officials to give live update on COVID-19 vaccines in BC

Health officials are scheduled to give a live update on COVID-19 vaccine procedures in British Columbia, this Wednesday, at 3:30 pm.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry will be in attendance, alongside Health Minister Adrian Dix, Premier John Horgan, and Dr. Ross Brown, who is leading BC’s COVID-19 vaccine program.

On Monday, Henry announced that the province would receive its very first delivery of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine next week.

She emphasized that this will be a small start to the larger roll-out expected to happen in the coming months. The priority, to begin with, will be protecting the most vulnerable British Columbians, including seniors and healthcare workers.

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Henry noted that there will not be enough of the vaccine available right off the bat to make a significant impact on community transmissions and public health and safety measures will still need to be followed.

However, “we will be able to protect those people who are more likely to end up in the hospital, who are more likely to die from this virus, and also to protect our healthcare system by ensuring that people who are at risk in our healthcare system are protected too,” she said.

The first vaccine doses are just days away. About 4,000 high-risk people in BC will be immunized by end of next week.

Tomorrow, I'll be joined by Dr. Bonnie Henry & Health Minister @adriandix to update how an immunization program will help keep British Columbians healthy & safe.

— John Horgan (@jjhorgan) December 8, 2020

Prior to the provincial update in the afternoon, federal health officials will hold a technical briefing in Ottawa on Wednesday at 10 am PST, addressing the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines across the country.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says that Canada will be receiving up to 249,000 doses of Pfizer’s vaccine candidate this month.

These initial doses, which Trudeau said are expected to be delivered next week, are part of the 76 million Canada is set to receive from the company.

Additionally, the Pfizer vaccine was also approved by Health Canada on Wednesday morning.

BC’s live update on Wednesday afternoon can be streamed online.