PRINCE GEORGE – “We’re well within what we call the normal respiratory illness season for influenza right now.”
That from Dr. Bonnie Henry, as she prefaced her presentation on flu season with that cautionary note.
“So that reminds us it’s not too late to get that extra protection by getting vaccinated. Protect it before spending time with family, older and older family members, people in long-term care homes who are more likely to have more severe illness or complications.”
Last year, the province experienced record-breaking numbers at one and a half million flu vaccinations and 1.18 million COVID vaccinations at this time of year. As of midnight, 1,443,000 vaccines have been administered, and just over a million COVID vaccines. “What has happened here in British Columbia. I think it really reflects on the commitment of people to one another here, the commitment to get vaccinated and the vaccination system that is put in place,” says Health Minister Adrian Dix. “That is in some ways a legacy of the work done in COVID-19 immunization system in B.C. and the work by both public health and community pharmacy.”
In fact, the Ministry says the level of vaccination in B.C. is twice as high as it is in Ontario and well ahead of every other Canadian jurisdiction.
“This reflects well, I think, on what we’re doing in B.C,” says Dix. “But of course, this is not the Canada Games and we want everybody to do well. We want everybody to be first. And of course, every day people come from other jurisdictions in the country to British Columbia. This is an argument to get vaccinated in British Columbia.”
Minister Adrian Dix says there’s still a significant strain on the system, regardless of health authority, and particularly in the acute care system, despite adding thousands of more beds.
