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Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said people who received two doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine will get a booster dose with an mRNA vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) six months after their second dose.

AstraZeneca recipients added to booster dose list

By Richmond Sentinel

Published 4:39 PDT, Mon November 1, 2021

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Those who received two doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine will also be fast-tracked to receive an mRNA (Pfizer or Moderna) booster dose, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said today.

While two doses of AstraZeneca still provides good protection against serious illness, it is not as protective against infection, Henry said. So those people will receive a booster dose six months after their second dose.

Henry added that the order requiring masks in indoor public spaces will be in place until the risk of spreading COVID is “significantly reduced.” She stressed the importance of wearing masks during faith services, although this is not specifically mandated.

Health Minister Adrian Dix said 95.8 per cent of the healthcare workers in the province are fully vaccinated, 1.6 per cent have received one dose, and 2.6 per cent—3,325 people—are unvaccinated. In the Vancouver Coastal Health region, two per cent are unvaccinated, 478 workers.

“If people are in our healthcare system and not recognizing the importance of vaccination, then this is probably not the right profession for them, to be frank,” said Henry on the topic of unvaccinated healthcare workers being placed on unpaid leave.

Health officials reported 1,370 new cases of COVID-19 since Friday, three of which are epidemiologically linked. Since the pandemic began, B.C. has recorded 206,284 cases.

Of the new cases, 124 are in the Vancouver Coastal Health region (including Richmond), 603 in the Fraser Health region, 218 in the Island Health region, 222 in the Interior Health region, 203 in the Northern Health region and no new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

There are 4,668 active cases of COVID-19 in B.C. and 436 of those people are hospitalized, 140 of whom are in intensive care.

To date, 8,250,566 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in B.C.; 3,954,068 of those are second doses.

This means that 90.4 per cent of adults and 90.0 per cent of people aged 12 and older have received their first dose of a vaccine. In addition, 85.9 per cent of adults and 85.3 per cent of those aged 12 and older have received two doses.

Dix said all long-term care and assisted living facilities in the Vancouver Coastal Health region have completed their booster dose programs.

Henry added that boosters are important because the virus can still spread in vaccinated people, particularly those who don’t have a strong immune response. It can also come in through unvaccinated healthcare workers, who are now not permitted to work.

Sadly, there were 25 new virus-related deaths reported since Friday, bringing that total to 2,181. Of those who died, eight lived in the Fraser Health region, five in the Island Health region, seven in the Interior Health region and five in the Northern Health region.

Health authorities reported six new healthcare facility outbreaks. Active outbreaks continue at 23 long-term care facilities, 10 assisted or independent living facilities and six acute care facilities.

From Oct. 22 to 28, people not fully vaccinated accounted for 64.6 per cent of cases.

From Oct. 15 to 28, they accounted for 73.5 per cent of hospitalizations.

Past week cases (Oct. 22-28)—Total 4,018

• Not vaccinated: 2,354 (58.6 per cent)

• Partially vaccinated: 240 (6.0 per cent)

• Fully vaccinated: 1,424 (35.4 per cent)

Past two weeks cases hospitalized (Oct. 15 to 28)—Total 468

• Not vaccinated: 316 (67.5 per cent)

• Partially vaccinated: 28 (6.0 per cent)

• Fully vaccinated: 124 (26.5 per cent)

Past week, cases per 100,000 population after adjusting for age (Oct. 22 to 28)

• Not vaccinated: 291.5

• Partially vaccinated: 80.8

• Fully vaccinated: 33.1

Past two weeks, cases hospitalized per 100,000 population after adjusting for age (Oct. 15 to 28)

• Not vaccinated: 59.1

• Partially vaccinated: 12.0

• Fully vaccinated: 2.7

For the latest medical updates, including case counts, prevention, risks and to find a testing centre near you: http://www.bccdc.ca/ or follow @CDCofBC on Twitter.