More than 30,000 COVID-19 vaccines have found arms in the North Okanagan, with roughly 40 per cent of the region’s population having received their first dose.
According to 2021 population estimates from BC Stats, there are about 78,600 people 18 and older living in the North Okanagan — a region including Armstrong, Coldstream, Enderby, Lumby, Spallumcheen, Vernon and other unincorporated areas.
Those communities have seen 28,965 first doses administered so far, with 1,366 second doses bringing the total number of shots above the 30,000 mark. That works out to about 37 per cent of North Okanagan adults who have received their first vaccine dose and 1.7 per cent who have had their second jab.
READ MORE: Nearly a third of Central Okanagan adults vaccinated
In the Shuswap, 28 per cent of the Salmon Arm area’s 32,000 people have received their first dose, with a total of 265 second doses administered.
Revelstoke’s vaccination rate is tops the region, with 67 per cent of its population having received their first dose. Just under 6,000 first doses have been administered in the community as Revelstoke has had a mass vaccination clinic for weeks due to having one of the highest rates for the virus in the province.
“Interior Health’s immunization campaign is running at full speed and I couldn’t be more proud,” said IH president and CEO Susan Brown. “We have immunized more than 35 per cent of people living in the Interior region and every dose brings us closer to widespread immunization in IH. This is our biggest tool in the fight against COVID-19.”
READ MORE: Canadian seniors vaccinated in higher numbers for COVID-19 than for the flu: PHAC
