On Monday night, city council approved a motion calling for the public health orders in the City of Prince George to be aligned with those in the rest of the province.
The city will be writing a letter to the provincial government, calling on the government to lift the Northern Health-specific public health orders. Coun. Kyle Sampson brought the motion at Monday night’s city council meeting, but acknowledged that provincial public health orders have been increased since he wrote his initial report to council. The province announced additional rules on Tuesday afternoon.
“(But) the initial intent is not outdated,” he said. “The intent behind this is to give fair, equitable treatment to P.G. as the rest of the province.”
The Northern Health region has been subject to additional, more restrictive, public health orders since Oct. 14. Those orders were revised and made less restrictive on Dec. 10.
The new province-wide rules announced on Tuesday match or go even further than region-specific rules in effect in Northern Health.
The region-specific orders put Prince George businesses, non-profit groups, venue operators and others at an unfair disadvantage, compared to the rest of the province, he said.
It’s not just about the big players like the Prince George Cougars or Theatre Northwest, but “we’re talking weddings, funerals and other celebrations as well,” Sampson said.
Under the new provincial rules, all organized indoor gatherings – including weddings and funerals – are prohibited.
Coun. Brian Skakun said he would like to see Northern Health bring a presentation to city council to explain the rationale for the regional rules.
“(But) it’s so fluid right now… the province is coming out with some new restrictions starting (Tuesday) and we don’t know what they are,” Skakun said. “The health regulations are there for a reason, we need to find out what the reasons are.”
Some areas of the Northern Health region have COVID vaccination rates much lower than the provincial average, he added, which may be a factor.
Indoor venues already require all participants to be vaccinated, Coun. Cori Ramsay said, so the higher rate of unvaccinated people shouldn’t be a factor.
“We’re talking about opportunities for people who are fully vaccinated and following the rules and doing everything right,” Coun. Terri McConnachie added. “We just want to keep it real for northern B.C., and have the same opportunity as everyone else.”
McConnachie said she has now gotten her booster shot of COVID-19 vaccine and urged all residents of Prince George to get vaccinated.
As of Sunday, 88 per cent of people aged 12 and older in the Prince George local health area had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and 83 per cent had received two doses.
In addition, 22 per cent of children aged five to 11 in the Prince George area had received their first dose of vaccine, and 66 per cent of those 70 and older had received a third booster shot.
Prince George’s vaccination rate is slightly lower than the provincial average. As of Monday, 91.7 per cent of British Columbians ages 12 and older had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 88.8 per cent had received two doses.
“It still astonishes me that this is an issue,” McConnachie said. “If there was no internet, we’d all be vaccinated.”
