‘Impressive’ start for B.C. vaccine card, COVID hospitalizations increase

Sep 21, 2021 | 4:06 PM

British Columbia’s vaccine passport program is nearing a milestone.

Health Minister Adrian Dix said during a COVID-19 update on Tuesday that 2.987 million residents have got their vaccine card that is used to show proof of vaccination at non-essential settings like restaurants and ticketed sporting events.

“That is an very impressive result and demonstrates the desire of British Columbians to ensure that everyone is safe in our province,” Dix stated.

Dix advised some of the names on the vaccine card did not match the name on people’s B.C. ID, but those issues can be fixed.

Anyone impacted by that can go to gov.bc.ca/vaccinecard for an updated vaccine card, or to update your ID, go to gov.bc.ca/updateid.

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British Columbia is reporting 525 new COVID-19 cases today (Sept. 21), with 147 of those in Interior Health (IH).

The number of active cases decreased slightly in IH to 1,167 cases, while in B.C. the number is 5,282.

Of the active cases, 332 people are in hospital (an increase of 32) with 155 in intensive care.

Dix said just over 13 per cent of the population is now unvaccinated.

He said of the 156 people in critical care in B.C. on Sunday, 138 were unvaccinated, with 5 per cent fully vaccinated.

One more person has died of the virus since Monday in Vancouver Coastal Health raising the death toll to 1,900.

As of today, 87 per cent of eligible people 12 and older in B.C. have received their first dose of a vaccine, and 79.5 per cent are fully vaccinated.

From Sept. 13–19, people not fully vaccinated accounted for 76.1 per cent of cases and from Sept. 6–19, they accounted for 84.7 per cent of hospitalizations.

Past week cases (Sept. 13–19) — Total 4,367

* Not vaccinated: 2,982 (68.3 per cent)

* Partially vaccinated: 340 (7.8 per cent)

* Fully vaccinated: 1,045 (23.9 per cent)

There were 22 active outbreaks at health care facilities in B.C. Tuesday, 13 of which were located in the Interior.

Brookhaven Care Centre in West Kelowna has 17 cases: 10 residents and seven staff, with three deaths connected to the outbreak.
Cottonwoods Care Centre long-term care in Kelowna has 33 cases: 23 residents and 10 staff, with six deaths connected to the outbreak.
David Lloyd Jones long-term care in Kelowna has 55 cases: 41 residents and 14 staff, with seven deaths connected to the outbreak.
Village at Mill Creek assisted living/independent living in Kelowna has 13 cases: eight residents and five staff with two deaths connected to the outbreak.
Hardy View Lodge long-term care in Grand Forks has five cases: one resident and four staff.
Spring Valley Care Centre long-term care in Kelowna has 15 cases: 11 residents and four staff, with three deaths connected to the outbreak.
Sun Pointe Village assisted living/independent living in Kelowna has 10 cases: eight residents and two staff, with two deaths connected to the outbreak.
Kamloops Seniors Village long-term care has 18 cases: 10 residents and eight staff, with one death connected to the outbreak.
Hillside Village long-term care in Salmon Arm has 10 cases: three resident and seven staff, with one death connected to the outbreak.
The Hamlets at Westsyde long-term care in Kamloops has six cases: three residents and three staff.
Joseph Creek Village long-term care in Cranbrook has 14 cases: nine residents and five staff, with two deaths connected to the outbreak.
Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital in Trail psychiatry unit has two patient cases.
Overlander Long-Term Care in Kamloops has four cases: two residents and two staff.