With vaccination rates growing, and case numbers in decline, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be deadly.
The Northern Health region reported another COVID-related death on Friday, increasing the pandemic's death toll in the region to 155, according to data released by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. The death was the only COVID-related death reported in the province on Friday.
"There has been one new COVID-19 related death, for a total of 1,740 deaths in British Columbia," provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said in a joint statement. "Our condolences are with the family, friends and caregivers of the people who have died as a result of COVID-19."
Five new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the Northern Health region on Friday. The number of active cases in the region dropped by one, to 55. Of those cases, four people were hospitalized, all of whom were in critical care.
The province hit another vaccination milestone, with more than 75 per cent of the eligible population now having received at least one dose, Henry and Dix said.
"Today, we are reporting that 76.7 (per cent) of all adults in B.C. and 75.1 (per cent) of those 12 and older have now received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine," they said. "Being fully vaccinated - with both doses - gives you and those around you maximum protection, which is why we encourage everyone to book your second dose as soon as you are eligible."
The vaccination rate in Prince George local health area and other parts of the north remain below the provincial average. As of Thursday, only 66 per cent of people aged 12 and up were vaccinated in the Prince George local health area, which includes Mackenzie and the Robson Valley.
In the Nechako, Burns Lake and Smithers areas west of the city, the vaccination rate for those 12 and up ranged between 57 and 62 per cent. Northeast of Prince George, the Peace River North and Peace River South areas have the lowest rates in the province at 49 per cent.
To the south, the Quesnel and Cariboo-Chilcotin areas were only 60 to 62 per cent vaccinated.
While the province will try to provide people with a second dose of the vaccine they received for their first shot, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are interchangeable for the second dose, Henry and Dix said.
"Interchangeability, having a different mRNA vaccine for your second dose, does not impact effectiveness or safety," they said. "All of our vaccines are safe and highly effective and that is the case whether you have the same or different vaccine for your second dose."
More than 4.29 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the province, 3.47 million first doses and 823,371 second doses.
In the Northern Health region, a total of 199,725 doses have been administered. Of those, 153,080 were first doses and 46,645 were second doses.
Across the province, 109 cases of COVID-19 were reported, and the number of active cases dropped by 62 to 1,389.
Anyone who hasn't registered to be vaccinated can do so by going online to www.gov.bc.ca/getvaccinated or phone 1-833-838-2323 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. daily.
"This weekend, for Father's Day, let's do our part and honour our fathers by protecting them with our own COVID-19 vaccine," Henry and Dix said. "Getting fully vaccinated with two doses of World Health Organization-approved vaccines in use in Canada today also ensures you will be able to travel when it is once again safe to do so."
