Pfizer vaccine delivery for early February up in the air

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Change to vaccination schedules due to pause in vaccine production

The provincial health officer says another delay in Pfizer vaccine deliveries means British Columbia must increase the time between first and second doses from 35 days to 42 days. Dr. Bonnie Henry says the province already knew it would not be receiving any Pfizer vaccine this week, but she says over the weekend, it was told there may not be any Pfizer vaccine delivered next week either, and deliveries for the following two weeks in February remain up in the air. Henry says that has forced a change in vaccination schedules.

"This means we can use what little supply we have right now to finish our long term care home immunizations and to address the outbreaks that are happening in our hospitals and our communities. This is about putting out fires before they get out of control."—Chief Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.

Meanwhile, Island Health has completed the first round of vaccinations of staff and residents at all long term care homes and assisted living facilities. However, a COVID-19 outbreak has been declared at the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, where two staff and one patient on the east wing of the Fourth floor have tested positive for the virus. Over the weekend, the Island Health Region recorded 77 new cases of COVID-19 and one death. Province-wide there were 1344 new cases and 26 deaths.

Casino CEO who jumped vaccination queue resigns

The head of the country's largest casino company has resigned after he and his wife lied to get a COVID-19 vaccine in a remote community in the Yukon. Last Thursday, the then-CEO of the Great Canadian Casino Corporation, Rodney Baker and his wife Ekaterina Baker went to the vaccine clinic in Beaver Creek, an isolated Indigenous community of 100 people. The couple apparently travelled from Vancouver to Whitehorse, before chartering a private plane to Beaver Creek. Yukon's Minister of Community Services, John Streicker, told the Yukon News that the couple claimed to be workers at a local motel, in order to receive a dose of the Moderna vaccine. The pair was ticketed $1150 dollars each and charged under the Yukon’s Civil Emergency Measures Act for breaking isolation requirements and misleading officials. The Great Canadian Casino Company announced Baker's resignation as CEO earlier today.

Snowfall advisory lifted

Environment Canada has lifted its snowfall advisory for the east coast of Vancouver Island. The predicted 5 to 15 centimetres of snow did not materialize this weekend. Residents expecting to wake up to a dump of snow on Sunday woke to a rainy day instead. However, the advisory continued until this morning.