Lower vaccination rates in B.C. Interior allowing Omicron to linger, says Henry

Most health authorities in B.C. are seeing the number of COVID-19 cases plummet rapidly but Interior Health is on a slightly different trajectory.

On Wednesday, provincial health officials said that of the 799 new cases of COVID-19 in B.C.,  280 were in the Interior Health region, compared to 109 in Fraser Health and 52 in Vancouver Coastal, both of which are significantly more populous. Limits on testing have rendered daily case counts an unreliable measure of the virus’s spread but the proportions do offer some insight.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said that the Interior, like the rest of the province,  has turned a corner when it comes to infections but there are a couple of factors that have kept Omicron lingering longer. One, she said, is a matter of timing, but another is a lower rate of vaccination.

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“The Interior was dealing with a lot of (the Delta variant) and it was later that we saw the Omicron surge,” Henry said.

“It also reflects the fact that in a number of communities in the Interior, and we’re seeing this in the north as well, there are lower rates of vaccination.”

As of Thursday, B.C.-wide, 90.5 per cent of eligible people have received one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, 86 per cent have received two doses and 57.1 have received a third dose.

Throughout Interior Health communities, the proportion of people aged five years old and up who have received two COVID-19 shots varies significantly. At the lowest point, there’s Enderby with 67 per cent vaccinated, while the highest is Revelstoke where 90 per cent of eligible residents have had both shots.

In that same category, Penticton has 83 per cent vaccine coverage, the Central Okanagan has 83 per cent coverage and Vernon has 69 per cent coverage.

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Lower rates of vaccination amount to “much more opportunity to infect more people” Henry explained.

“We’re seeing that reflected in the numbers that we’re seeing in the Interior and in hospitalizations,” she said. “It has meant that the peak has been delayed and is also going down more slowly and the proportion of people in hospital is a little bit higher.”

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Henry said the other thing that health officials are watching is the proportion of cases that are the BA.2 Omicron sub-variant.

“We are seeing a little bit of an increase in that. It is more infectious. It doesn’t seem to cause more severe illness, but again, more infectious in people, particularly who haven’t had their booster dose, who aren’t vaccinated,” she said, adding that it’s a driver in some communities.

To that end, the health authority is doing what it can to encourage vaccination and ensure that people have the information and access they need.

“For everybody in the Interior who’s not yet availed themself of vaccine, we now have a new option for you,” she said.

The Novavax vaccine was recently approved for use in Canada, and B.C. is expected to get a shipment within a “week to 10 days, Henry said.

The Novavax vaccine is classified as a protein subunit vaccine, which is different from previous COVID-19 vaccines which are considered mRNA vaccines.

“I know there’s a lot of concerns in some communities about the mRNA vaccines,” she said. “And I think this is a very effective alternative for you.”

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