There were 78 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the Northern Health region on Friday, according to data released by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.
The number of active cases in the region grew to 498, up nine from Thursday.
As of Friday, 42 people in the region were hospitalized with COVID-19, including 17 listed in critical care.
There was one COVID-related death reported in the Northern Health region on Friday, bringing the region’s death toll from the pandemic to 241.
Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 16,993 cases of COVID-19 reported in the Northern Health region, of which 16,206 people have recovered.
A total of 401,407 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the Northern Health region.
During the week of Nov. 7 to Nov. 13, 128 cases of COVID-19 were reported in the Prince George local health area, which includes Mackenzie and the Robson Valley.
On Friday, Health Canada approved a version of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for use in children aged five to 11. Children aged 12 and older are already eligible to be vaccinated.
In a joint statement issued on Friday, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said the province will roll out its vaccination campaign for younger children as soon as possible.
"British Columbia will have enough vaccine for every child aged five to 11, and we will be ready to start welcoming children to clinics throughout the province soon after we receive our supply of pediatric vaccines from the Government of Canada,” Henry and Dix said in the statement. “We will share detailed information early next week about B.C.'s plan for vaccines for children five to 11. We look forward to making the pediatric vaccine available for 360,000 young British Columbians as soon as possible.”
Parents and guardians can register their children to be vaccinated by going online to www.getvaccinated.gov.bc.ca or by calling 1-833-838-2323.
"While children are at a lower risk of severe disease from COVID-19, it can still result in serious outcomes in some children, including hospitalization and long-term symptoms,” Henry and Dix said. “As well, as we have seen over the past 20 months, the pandemic has had a tremendous impact on children and families and has led to significant disruptions to important social activities and school. Health Canada's approval of the vaccine for children is another important step that will help protect children from COVID-19 and help us safely get back to many important activities.”
