Monday October 4, 2021 | VICTORIA, BC [Some typos corrected October 11, 2021]
by Mary P Brooke, B.Sc., Editor | Island Social Trends
After another weekend tally of new COVID test-positive cases, Island Health has reached 8,932 cases (pandemic to date), of which 8,129 (91%) have recovered.
Presently 676 cases are active on Vancouver Island. Of those people, 37 are in hospital (with 25 of those receiving care in ICU).
In the last three days (from Friday October 1 to today Monday October 4) 31 children up to age 10 were newly reported COVID cases in Island Health, and 32 youth age 10 to 19 tested positive.
Young adults also continued to show more cases over the weekend: 47 people in their 20s, and 46 people in their 30s.
Vaccine profile, pandemic to date:
As of today October 4, there have been 1,311,799 doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered in Island Health (since the start of the pandemic), of which 48.2% have been second doses (i.e. those people are now considered fully vaccinated).
The most frequently used vaccine product in BC has been Pfizer-BioNTech, followed by Moderna, then AstraZeneca. In Island Health, doses administered up to October, by type, are Pfizer-BioNTech (70.1%), Moderna (27.3%), and AstraZeneca (2.6%).
Delta variant & more recent deaths:
The highly transmissible Delta variant is found as having caused virtually all the COVID-19 test-positive infections in BC (according to BC Centre for Disease Control data | Variants of Concern report at Oct 1, 2021).
Since late summer, this fourth wave of the COVID pandemic has been ‘redubbed’ as a ‘pandemic of the unvaccinated’.
Pandemic to date, there have been 70 deaths directly due to COVID in Island Health (up from a total of 48 just since September 1); in other words, almost one-third of the COVID deaths on Vancouver Island have happened within just the past month.
Masks in schools:
As of today October 4, masks must be worn by everyone in K-12 schools in BC (students, teachers, staff and visitors), as announced on October 1 by Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry.
Children under age 12 remain unvaccinated in BC, as an approved vaccine for children is awaited. Pfizer has developed a product that will contain 10 mcg of the antigen against COVID-19 (compared to 30 mcg in the adult dose). Health Canada has received the manufacturer’s data for review (part of the approval process).
