B.C. records more than 500 cases of COVID-19, six deaths – News 1130

B.C. records more than 500 cases of COVID-19, six deaths – News 1130

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — B.C. is reporting another 508 cases of COVID-19, and six more deaths in the last day.

The province also reported 72 confirmed cases of variants of concern. Fifty-two of those cases were B.1.1.7, which was first discovered in the U.K. The other 20 are the B.1.351 variant, which was first discovered in South Africa.

Dr. Reka Gustafson spoke to reporters Friday, saying the early evidence is in on the immunization of our seniors in long-term care, which is very encouraging.

“We are seeing a decline in outbreaks,” she said. “A local assessment of effectiveness has shown us that there’s substantial protection in the frail elderly from vaccination.”

She calls it an important finding “because this is the population at highest risk of severe illness.”

“It’s not a population that always responds particularly well to vaccine. So, this is actually an extremely good finding for us,” she added.

As of now, 192,942 vaccine doses delivered including 36,923 booster shots.

The 12,250 shots delivered Thursday were highest total yet.

Health Minister Adrian Dix says immunization is ramping up and only thing holding them back is waiting for more vaccine. #bcpoli @NEWS1130

— Marcella Bernardo (@Bernardo1130) February 19, 2021

To date, more than 192,000 doses have been dispensed across B.C.

Yesterday was a big day, with more than 12,000 people receiving the shot, which is the highest number administered in B.C. a single day so far.

Published at Sat, 20 Feb 2021 00:15:48 +0000