Health officials in B-C are urging everyone who’s eligible to register for a vaccine as more doses are expected to arrive this month. Provincial health officer Doctor Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix say ample vaccine supply will be available so everyone should get protected to reduce transmission of COVID-19. The supply includes mostly the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, along with some Moderna, as shipments of Oxford-AstraZeneca shipped from India are now being mostly used in that country due to an ongoing crisis there. B-C recorded 515 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday as numbers slowly go down, but 426 people are still in hospital, 141 of them in intensive care.
White Rock council has voted to close the north lane of Marine Drive until the end of September, making the main waterfront route a temporary east-bound one-way. The vote was a 6-1 split decision in council’s Monday (May 10) regular online meeting. The stretch of Marine Drive to be closed will be from Vidal Street on west beach to Maple Street on east beach. The move, responding to a request from the White Rock BIA, is aimed at allowing waterfront restaurants more table space to offset a severe and continuing threat to the survival of the businesses as a result of provincial health orders banning inside dining. Gordon told council that west-bound traffic – which can reach as high as 250 vehicles an hour in peak times – would be diverted down Columbia Avenue and Victoria Avenue.
The future use of the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine in Canada is now in question due to concerns over the increased risk of rare but severe blood clots connected to the shot, an unpredictable future supply and a significant amount of other vaccines. Alberta was the first province to confirm it would stop administering first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, citing a scarcity of supply. The province will instead prioritize mRNA vaccines like Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna while reserving existing AstraZeneca for second doses. Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Williams announced in an impromptu news conference late Tuesday afternoon the vaccine would also no longer be offered to Ontarians as a first dose and future supply would instead be reserved for optional second shots. But unlike Alberta, Ontario’s decision was made largely due to the rising rate of the rare but serious blood-clotting condition connected to the shot known as vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia Williams said that in the past several days there have been a growing number of reports of VITT in Ontario. Out of more than 850,000 AstraZeneca doses given, there are now eight cases in the province as of Saturday at a rate of about one in 60,000 shots administered. Other provinces have yet to follow suit, but there are growing signs the vaccine will not be prioritized in provincial and territorial rollouts across the country.
B-C has once again extended a provincial state of emergency allowing it to use health measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Premier John Horgan says the extension until May 25th is necessary as the vaccine rollout speeds up to put the pandemic “behind us.” The original state of emergency declaration was made on March 18th, 2020, the day after provincial health officer Doctor Bonnie Henry declared a public health emergency. Since then, the province has used legal means to issue multiple orders, including on the wearing of masks, limiting gatherings and preventing travel outside of three main health regions
The B-C College of Pharmacists has fined a pharmacist and suspended him for a year for diverting and reselling prescription medication. The college says in a recent ruling that Ian Petterson worked at a hospital pharmacy and sold its supplies and medication to a community pharmacy, then pocketed the cash. A written disciplinary ruling says text messages and emails provided the evidence and that Petterson circumvented the hospital’s policies and procedures aimed at preventing such theft and diversion. He has been fined 35-thousand dollars and must retake a licensing
exam, though even if he passes it and is reinstated, his standing as a registered pharmacist will immediately be suspended for a year.
A distillery in Sooke that had its grand opening last month has been gutted by a fire that was battled by nearly three dozen firefighters. Glass bottles, boilers an depressurized tanks burst in the heat early yesterday as fire departments from Otter Point, Metrchosin and East Sooke responded, but the building was ablaze by the time they arrived. Sooke Fire Rescue chief Kenn Mount says multiple 9-1-1 callers reported flames and explosions, but the cause is still being investigated. Mount says he spoke with the owners on their fire safety and storage plan after the calls came in so he could to advise first responders about the layout of the property and its potential Hazards.
A loud noise that sounded like an explosion drew a large police presence to a South Surrey neighbourhood Tuesday evening (May 11). Surrey RCMP said they were called to the Summerfield neighbourhood, near 2 Avenue and 173 Street, at approximately 8:45 p.m. after receiving reports of shots fired. “We have not found any evidence of that yet and our members are still conducting an investigation into this incident,” Const. Sarbjit Sangha said. Shortly after the incident, residents in the area took to social media to share what they heard and saw. “Police are going door to door on 2 (avenue) now. My son called it in. Loudest bang I’ve ever heard. Was close,” one neighbourhood group member wrote on Facebook. According to a resident in the neighbourhood, the incident was captured on video. “The video was on second (avenue). It shows him running down the street with a shot gun and firing it then running back the way he came,” another member wrote, adding that it wasn’t her video.
Health Minister Adrian Dix says some of B-C’s expected new supply of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine will be used to give second doses to those who got the first shot. Dix says he understands other several other provinces including Ontario and Alberta have announced restrictions on use of the vaccine. But he says it’s his understanding that they’ve used up all of their supply. B-C continues to offer the vaccine to those age 30 and up at participating pharmacies and Dix says a “significant amount” was also made available in the last week in the Island and Interior health authority regions.
The B-C government has introduced legislation aimed at ensuring people who are fined for violating COVID-19 restrictions pay up. The proposed amendments to the Motor Vehicle Act would mean people who haven’t paid their fines may not be able to obtain or renew a driver’s or vehicle licence. Solicitor General Mike Farnworth says the change taking effect on July 1st would target a small group of people who refuse to pay. But less than 175-thousand dollars has been paid out of the nearly 1.18-million dollars in COVID-19 fines processed by I-C-B-C.
Mixing and matching COVID-19 vaccines may work, but researchers say the option could lead to more frequent symptoms, both mild to moderate. According to the results of an ongoing study at the University of Oxford, alternating the Oxford-AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech shots poses no other safety concerns. University of British Columbia infectious diseases expert Horacio Bach says the small size of the initial study does not make it possible to know whether some people would get severe reactions from mixing the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines.