British Columbia encouraging residents 65 plus to register for the COVID-19 vaccine

B.C. health officials are encouraging British Columbians 65 and older to register to receive a COVID-19 vaccine but they are not all eligible to book 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 they will be vaccinated. Only those who register will be notified when it is their turn to call in and make an appointment.

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“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 vaccine this week.

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Dix said so far 44 per cent of British Columbians 65 years of age and older have been vaccinated and 80 per cent of those 80 and above have been vaccinated.

The federal government has shipped 888,810 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 750,052 of this vaccine has 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.”

NEW: People aged 65+ and Indigenous peoples 18+ can now register for their vaccine appointment online, by phone, or in person. Share the schedule and help someone in your community get their vaccine appointment. Please only register if it’s your turn! #CovidBC

— BC Government News (@BCGovNews) April 8, 2021

One of the distribution challenges has been with the Moderna vaccine. The province has received 248,900 doses but there are around 105,000 doses the province is still waiting for.

The province has also received 265,800 doses of AstraZeneca. Of those 180,000 are currently in the midst of being distributed and administered through pharmacies.