18 to 24 year olds not to be vaccinated until September

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Revised plan for vaccination in B.C.

British Columbia has revised its COVID-19 vaccination plan to focus on age as being the deciding factor in the next phase of immunizations. The first priority group underway now, includes those who live or work in long term care and other vulnerable populations. Starting in late March, age will determine vaccination dates, rather than the risk of exposure due to where someone works. That means teachers, first responders and grocery store staff will not be given priority. The first in line will be those over the age of 80 who live outside of care homes. Mass vaccination clinics will continue throughout the spring and summer with people in their 70s starting in April, people in their 60s in May and so on. The youngest group 18 to 24 year-olds will get their shots in September. Meanwhile, the provincial health officer says the vaccine rollout does not mean she is about to lift current restrictions. Dr. Bonnie Henry is urging people to stay close to home in their household bubble.

"Do not make plans for family day, stay local, stay in BC. We won't be at a place where we can travel. We need to think more about staying in our communities as we're rolling out this program. We know there are a number of celebratory events coming up like Chinese new years and others and we need those to remain low-key virtual events this year."
—Chief Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.

Dr. Henry says it may be possible to relax some restrictions by Canada Day but it will likely be the fall before things start returning to normal.

Friday COVID-19 update

Meanwhile, in BC today, there are 508 new cases of COVID-19 and 9 deaths. In the Island Health region, there are 13 new cases today, bringing our weekly total to 78. According to Island Health, there are 194 active cases of the virus, with the vast majority 152 on the central island.

Weekend snow?

Nanaimo and the east coast of Vancouver Island could see some snow this weekend. Environment Canada is forecasting between 5 and 15 centimetres will fall Saturday night and into Sunday morning. That could make driving the Malahat and higher elevations a challenge. But, meteorologist Bobby Sekhon says the white stuff probably won't be around for long.

"We're gonna have temperatures right around the freezing mark and above freezing during the day so we're not expecting it to stick around too, too long. We will get some melt during the day so this is probably going to be wet, slushy type of snow where we don't quite have the arctic air in place to give that light, fluffier kind of snow so it's going to be a high moisture content.”
—Meteorlogist Bobby Sekhon.

Sekhon says the region hasn't seen any snowfall so far in January. He says the norm for the month is 21 centimetres.