The vaccines are coming. After a long wait, B.C. is gearing up for one of its largest mass immunization efforts in history.
On March 1, Premier John Horgan unveiled Phase 2 of the province’s COVID-19 rollout plan and announced that seniors over 80 and Indigenous people over 65 will start receiving their vaccinations on March 15.
Who has been vaccinated so far?
A: Phase 1 of B.C.’s COVID-19 immunization rollout, which started late December, targeted front-line health-care providers and people living in long-term care and assisted living facilities.
As of Feb. 26, 252,373 doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been administered in the province, 73,808 of which were second doses.
The B.C. government has promised that approximately 4.3 million British Columbians over 18 will be vaccinated by September, equating to 8.6 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
How do I book an appointment?
A: As part of the Phase 2 rollout, seniors who are 90 and older and Indigenous people who are 65 and older will be able to book their vaccinations starting March 8, while seniors 85-89 can book starting March 15, and seniors 80-84 can book beginning March 22.
Booking information — including health authority contact details, complete call-in schedules, hours of operations and step-by-step instructions on how to call to book an appointment — will be available on March 8 at www.gov.bc.ca/bcseniorsfirst.
The government has promised that seniors would also be able to make one call to book their appointment through their health authority call centre.
Here is the contact list of regional health authority call centres, which will be open from 7 a.m. to 7p.m., seven days a week:
• Fraser Health: 1-855-755-2455
(Fraser Health also has online booking: Fraserhealth.ca/vaccinebookinginfo)
• Interior Health: 1-877-740-7747
• Island Health: 1-833-348-4787
• Northern Health: 1-844-255-7555
• Vancouver Coastal Health: 1-877-587-5767
People will be given a list of local vaccination clinics to choose from and the call centre agent will confirm the appointment time and location.
People should only call in when they are eligible. Anyone who misses their age-based dates can still call, book and be vaccinated at any time after they become eligible.
