Changes to vaccination rollout, due to pause in production

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Pfizer pausing production in order to expand capacity

B.C.'s Minister of Health says vaccination rollout plans are being reassessed after Pfizer announced it will reduce the number of doses it will send to Canada over the next month. The pharmaceutical firm says it's pausing some production lines at its plant in Belgium, in order to expand its long term manufacturing capacity. Adrian Dix says that means BC will receive less than half of what it expected in February. Dix says that will have an effect on who gets a first dose and when others get their second dose.

"It just means that a significant number of people in the first priority groups won't get their doses either first or second and in particular first doses, as soon as we would like, which is like, yesterday, so in that sense it has an impact and it's our hope that this is just a small blip but regardless, with the change in circumstances, we'll have to get organized around that change."

Dix says details of the revised vaccination plan will be made public on Monday.

Alberni hospital to get an upgrade

The West Coast General Hospital is getting a long-awaited shot in the arm, with the announcement of a $6.25 million dollar capital plan to expand and improve its emergency department. Construction will begin in March to create three new beds along with a new private seclusion room for mental health emergencies. The waiting area will be expanded and there will be two entrances created for ambulances and the general public. The newly-elected MLA for the area, Josie Osborne says the expansion has been a long time coming.

"As a former chair of the hospital district myself, and the mayor of Tofino, this is a project that we discussed around the board table many, many times and I know just how important it is to the residents of the Alberni valley and out on the west coast. So it's exciting to see it and once again, just can't wait for it to get started. I know everybody is waiting and wants it finished yesterday and getting it finished within the next year is going to be fantastic."

The $6.2 million dollar project will be cost-shared among the province, the West Coast Hospital Foundation and the Alberni Clayoquot Regional Hospital District. It is expected to be completed by the summer of 2022.

Today is the very first Black Shirt Day in BC. It is a grassroots initiative to show solidarity with Black and racialized communities in B.C. in their ongoing struggle for equity, equality and justice. Jan. 15 is also the birth date of Martin Luther King Jr. Monday is a national holiday in the United States in honour of the civil rights leader.