BC shortening gap between first and second dose of COVID-19 vaccine

Health officials in British Columbia are reducing the wait time between the first and second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The announcement was made on Monday afternoon by Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix, who held a special press conference.

Prior to this change, 49 days was the expected waiting period between your first dose and your second dose. As of today, that has been reduced to just 28 days.

Dr. Henry said that they’ve made the change particularly to help protect people in the most vulnerable regions.

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COVID-19 is currently seeing a spike in parts of the BC Interior, particularly in the Central Okanagan, where new restrictions were implemented late last week.

Invites will be going out to approximately 170,000 people in vulnerable areas of the province over the next few days to get their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine ahead of schedule.

“With more than 80% of eligible people in BC vaccinated with their first dose and more than 60% fully vaccinated, we have made tremendous progress in our vaccine rollout,” said Dix. “The next few weeks is a great opportunity for everyone not yet fully vaccinated to take advantage of the number of Vax for BC opportunities throughout BC.”

Those invitations will begin to be sent out as early as this evening, but Dr. Henry warns that there could be delays.

Dr. Henry also reminded that the majority of current COVID-19 cases are occurring in unvaccinated BC residents, particularly those in younger age groups who are attending social gatherings.