First responders and teachers among 300,000 front-line workers to receive COVID-19 vaccine

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The B.C. government laid out a plan Thursday that would see nearly half a million British Columbians vaccinated for COVID-19 earlier than expected by mid-April.

Provincial health officials were able to expedite the planned vaccine rollout because of a decision to extend second doses to four months from three to four weeks and expected increased vaccine deliveries from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. It increases by 491,000 the anticipated first doses that will be available from March 1 to April 18, according to information provided by health officials.

The first to benefit will be nearly 350,000 people in their 70s who will be able to get vaccinated by mid-April. The advanced timeline also shows people in their 60s and Indigenous people 18 to 64 being vaccinated in April.

The vaccine rollout timeline is also being helped by the addition of an expected 340,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines by the end of May, some of which are coming from India, where the AstraZeneca vaccine is called Covishield.

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The province has decided to direct AstraZeneca at workers in areas such as food-processing plants and industrial camps, where it’s hard to physically distance, and also to teachers, firefighters and police.

The updated vaccine rollout plan comes as B.C. continues to post about 500 or more test-positive cases each day and is seeing an increase in the U.K. variant of the virus that spreads more easily and could cause more serious illness.

“Having another safe, effective vaccine means that we can protect more people faster,” said B.C. Premier John Horgan.

There have been concerns about AstraZeneca and its potential link to blood clots, but on Thursday the European Union’s agency cleared the vaccine. B.C.’s provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, has also said the vaccine is safe.

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B.C. Teachers’ Federation president Teri Mooring noted that despite the safety measure and efforts by teachers, the virus has still found its way into schools and classrooms.

“I join all of my teacher colleagues in expressing huge relief that educators across B.C. will be prioritized in April to receive a COVID-19 vaccine,” said Mooring.

Grocery workers also welcomed that they would have early access to vaccinations via AstraZeneca.

“Our members in grocery stores are working in spaces that have a higher rate of exposures, so having early access to the vaccine not only helps protect them at work but also their families and the thousands of people of the public that they interact with in stores every month,” said Kim Novak, United Food and Commercial Workers 1518 president.

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The province laid out an estimated timeline for the vaccine rollout that shows people aged 40 to 59 being vaccinated with a first dose in May and those 39 and younger beginning to be vaccinated in June. That’s two months earlier than initially projected by the province, but it would rely on continued increased vaccine deliveries and a smooth rollout.

Canada doesn’t have its own vaccine manufacturing capacity and is relying on supply from other countries, including from Belgium, India and the U.S. B.C’s planned vaccine rollout had earlier been stalled by supply interruptions.

Penny Ballem, a former deputy health minister tapped to lead the vaccine rollout, said 20,000 vaccines are now being administered each day. She said that as much as one-quarter of the population of B.C. will have been vaccinated with one dose by the end of April. An estimated 4.3 million people in B.C. over age 18 are eligible to take the vaccine.

“This is remarkable progress,” said Ballem, noting they would have to be nimble in responding to the increased vaccine supply.

A fourth vaccine has been approved in Canada, Johnson & Johnson, but it’s not known when supply might arrive, noted Ballem.

She added that B.C.’s online vaccine booking system will start April 6 when call-takers handling phone-in appointments will be scaled back.

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Henry said that, despite the advanced rollout of the vaccine, not to expect major changes in safety restrictions in the next two months. She said possible changes could be the allowance of small, indoor religious services, but what is needed is to keep the focus on people who wish to get together doing so outside.

Earlier this month, the province amended an order allowing groups of up to 10 to gather outdoors for social events such as picnics and barbecues.

There is some thought being given to whether youth sports might be allowed to return later in April, and how the province might approach high school graduation in June, said Henry. By June, if the province is able to deliver the projected vaccines and keep a third wave of COVID-19 from taking off, more restrictions could be lifted, said Henry.

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