British Columbia recorded another eight COVID-19-related deaths on Wednesday, as cases in hospital continued their steady decline.
Health officials reported 329 positive cases in hospital, an overnight decrease of 16, including 51 in critical or intensive care.
Officials also confirmed 235 new cases, though daily new case counts no longer reflect the true spread of the virus due to limitations on testing.
As of Wednesday, 87.8 per cent of B.C.’s population (90.7 per cent of those eligible) had received one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, 84 per cent of B.C.’s population (86.8 per cent of those eligible) had received two doses, and 49.2 per cent of B.C.’s population (58.6 per cent of those eligible) had received three doses.
No data on recent cases and hospitalizations by vaccination status was available Wednesday due to a B.C. Centre for Disease Control reporting delay.
However, monthly B.C. CDC data continues to show unvaccinated people at a significantly higher risk of severe outcomes.
From Feb. 8 to March 7, per 100,000 population, there were 117.2 unvaccinated cases in hospital, 27.2 unvaccinated cases in ICU and 13.8 deaths among the unvaccinated, compared to 39.7 vaccinated (two-dose) cases in hospital, 9.2 vaccinated cases in ICU and 6.2 deaths among people with two doses.
The difference in outcomes remains even more pronounced among people with a third, booster shot.