Friday November 26, 2021 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke, B.Sc. | Island Social Trends
Active daily COVID-19 case counts have been consistent in Island Health this week, November 22 to 26.
Presently there are 448 active cases. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has also been steady this week: presently at 51, of which ICU are in 15. Total cases in Island Health, pandemic to date, sits at 12,417.
There were no new deaths this week on Vancouver Island: 119 to date.
This week there were 21 new cases in children up to age nine, and 39 cases in youth ages 10-19.
So far, 1,429,712 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Island Health.
At this time, all the test-positive COVID-19 cases in BC reveal the Delta variant, according to BC Centre for Disease Control data. It is highly transmissible.
The Omicron variant (found in South Africa this week) has resulted in border closures to travellers from several south African countries. No cases in BC found yet.
Vaccination for young children:
COVID vaccination registration opened about two weeks ago for children ages 5 to 11 years.
The first shots of the pediatric dosage of the vaccine by Pfizer-BioNTech (10 mcg composition compared to 30 mcg for adults) will be available and administered starting Monday November 29.
Up to this point, children under the age of 12 have been the largest population segment that is unvaccinated against COVID-19. There are about 350,000 children in the age 5 to 11 year cohort.
This week (November 23 media session with Dr Bonnie Henry, Dr Penny Ballem and Health Minister Adrian Dix) BC Health said that specialized family-friendly clinics will be set up to administer the COVID vaccine to children in the 5 to 11 year age group. All siblings may come to the same appointment time, with a parent or guardian.
Boosters for seniors:
Boosters for seniors are rolling out by invitation, based on waiting for a six-month interval after the person’s second dose of COVID-19 vaccine. All boosters will be the mRNA type vaccine.
