COVID-19: B.C. reports 12 deaths, more than 480 new cases over three days

B.C. health officials recorded more than 480 new cases of COVID-19 over the past three days, along with 12 deaths.

Deputy provincial health officer Dr. Réka Gustafson reported Monday that there were 217 cases from Friday to Saturday, the first time since Monday the number of daily cases topped 200. A total of 131 cases were reported from Saturday to Sunday, the lowest single-day total since Oct. 14, and there were 133 cases from Sunday to Monday.

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The totals bring the seven-day average of daily cases to 177, the lowest since Oct. 20.

The seven-day rolling average of B.C.’s positivity rates is 3.5 per cent.

The number of people in hospital with the disease dipped by 25 to 199, marking the first time the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in B.C. dipped below 200 since mid-November. The number of people in intensive care rose by four to 63.

The 12 deaths bring the province’s COVID-19 death toll to 1,722.

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There have been more than 141,000 COVID-19 cases in the province since the start of the pandemic, of which 2,102 remain active.

Nearly 147,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered from Friday to Sunday, the province said.

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Gustafson said 72 per cent of all residents aged 12 and up have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. That includes 39 per cent of eligible youth between the ages of 12 and 17.

Supplies of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine are scheduled to arrive at pharmacies in B.C. on Monday.

Gustafson said people who had a first shot of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine should feel comfortable getting the same vaccine or an mRNA vaccine such as the one made by Pfizer-BioNTech for their second dose unless they’ve had an allergic reaction or a blood clot, both of which are rare.

“The most robust studies about effectiveness come from two doses of the same vaccine,” she said Monday.

“Either choice is reasonable. We are providing all the information we can for individuals to make healthy choices for themselves. The most important thing is to get that second dose.”

— With files from Simon Little and The Canadian Press