With more vaccine shipments set to arrive and young British Columbians expected to get a shot before summer, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said COVID-19 could be something of the past in a few months.
“Maybe I’m too optimistic, but we’re going to be in our post-pandemic world by the summer if things continue to go the way that we want them to,” Henry said Thursday (March 4) during a press briefing.
“We know there’s going to be snags, but we are going to do our best,” Henry added. “I think, by the summer, we’re going to be able to be doing a lot more of those connections that we need.”
So far, 298,851 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been given out in the province, including 86,746 of which were second doses.
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Earlier this week, the province decided to lengthen the interval between first and second doses of the COVID-19 shot – from 42 days to four months – after Health Canada approved a third vaccine for use.
“Extending this second dose provides very high real-world protection to more people, sooner,” Henry said on Monday.
“That means we can move everybody up the list.”
As of recent estimates, there are 4,743 active cases of COVID-19 in B.C. and 248 individuals currently hospitalized with COVID-19, of whom 63 are in intensive care.
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