Sunshine Coast seniors born in 1951 or earlier will be able to call to schedule an appointment for vaccinations starting this Saturday.
Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) posted the shortened timeline on its website, grouping the Sunshine Coast in with other rural regions including Powell River, Squamish, Bowen Island, Pemberton and Whistler.
Those in the same age group in Richmond, Vancouver, North Vancouver and West Vancouver will still have to wait a few more weeks, with March 27 set as the date for when people 75 and older may phone to book.
Starting March 20 Indigenous people who reside in VCH’s jurisdiction who were born in 1966 or earlier will be able to schedule an appointment.
The site does not say when those who make their March 20 bookings will be invited to the clinics.
Vaccine clinics have been established at the Gibsons Legion Branch 109 (747 Gibsons Way), Sechelt Seniors Activity Centre (5604 Trail Ave.) and Madeira Park Legion Branch 112 (12829 Lillies Lake Rd.).
The booking phone number is:1-877-587-5767 and the call centre is open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Good news also arrived March 18 for frontline workers.
Premier John Horgan confirmed Thursday the province now expects to receive 340,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine by the end of May, to be used for people whose work requires them to gather or where use of personal protective equipment (PPE) is challenging.
Horgan highlighted professions such as teachers, police, grocery workers and those working at food processing plants when making the announcement.
Child care staff, manufacturing workers, wholesale/warehousing workers, staff in congregate housing, staff at correctional facilities, those working in cross-border transport, quarantine officers, certain postal workers, bylaw officers and those working at outbreak sites are also being prioritized beginning — for the most part — in early April.
The province is selecting these workers based on concerns they’re in industries where full use of PPE and barriers can be challenging, outbreaks and clusters have occurred or are ongoing, and workers must live or work in congregate settings.
“We will also be focusing again on those higher risk industries,” B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said during a media briefing.
Henry also urged workers not to reach out to the call centres that have been fielding vaccination appointments based on age groups.
Instead, health authorities will be reaching out to employers to arrange the jabs for prioritized workers in early April.
Henry said she remains hopeful that as B.C. ramps up its vaccination plans, students in high school might have the opportunity to celebrate graduation in some sort of ceremony in the coming months.
But she said those counting on an April wedding will need to rethink their plans despite the accelerated vaccine rollout.
- With files from Tyler Orton
