508 new COVID-19 cases in BC; 9 deaths | iNFOnews

A total of 6,719 people are under active public health monitoring because they have had direct contact with COVID-19-positive individuals.

This is the fifth death this week after four new deaths in the region were reported yesterday.

People who register for the age-based plan will get a reminder to book appointments when eligible, but provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says timelines for vaccination will depend on available doses. More than 56,010 people who tested positive have recovered.

There have been nine new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 1,128 deaths in British Columbia.

There are now 205 active cases of COVID-19 in the Island Health region, according to the BC Centre for Disease Control.

COVAX to purchase 40 mln doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine
Hinshaw said there are still "many unknowns" about these particular vaccines but insight into other vaccines may be relevant. He described it as an initial agreement, and said more doses could be provided through the COVAX programme in future.

The number of people in hospital reached its lowest point since December 3, with 329 people in hospital in B.C., with 70 receiving intensive care.

As of Friday, 110,566 doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been distributed across B.C., including 2,202 second doses.

"Despite our COVID-19 curve trending in the right direction, we continue to have new outbreaks, community clusters and high numbers of new cases".

There have been no new outbreaks in health-care facilities, but six have been declared over.

There has also been one new outbreak at the North Fraser Pretrial Services Centre. Penny Ballem, who is leading B.C.'s COVID-19 immunization rollout. This includes staying home when we are sick, getting tested, washing our hands, giving a safe distance to others and following our safety basics.