B.C. health officials are encouraging British Columbians 65 years and older to register to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, but they are not all eligible to book an appointment yet.
As of Thursday, 487,726 people have registered with the new Get Vaccinated website and phone system since it was launched earlier this week.
The system is a three-step process where someone needs to register, then they will be notified when to book, and finally will get vaccinated. Only those who register will be notified when it is their turn to call in and make an appointment.
“We are making excellent progress with the supply we have,” Health Minister Adrian Dix said.
“We are ready to receive vaccine and deliver it as quickly as possible.”
The province will be working on booking those born in 1952 first and then work down through the years ending up with those born in 1956.
British Columbia was expected to receive more than 300,000 doses of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines this week.
Dix said so far 44 per cent of British Columbians 65 years of age and older have been vaccinated, as have 80 per cent of those 80 years of age and older.
The federal government has shipped 888,810 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, of which 750,052 doses have been administered. The province expects to administer nearly 140,000 doses over the next few days.
“We get it, we use it,” Dix said. “We need to vaccinate B.C. quickly and we are ready to do that. The real issue with vaccine is the amount we have. If we got a million more doses, we have the capacity to that and to do that quickly.”
One of the distribution challenges has been with the Moderna vaccine.
The province has received 248,900 doses, but is waiting for around 105,000 more.
B.C. has also received 265,800 doses of the AstraZeneca shot. Of those, 180,000 are in the midst of being distributed and administered through pharmacies.