Facing a shortage of COVID-19 vaccine, variants and around 500 new cases per day, British Columbia is on the brink, according to the province’s top doctor.
“This leaves us at a precipice, at a brink, where we can see rapid take off, particularly if we start to see any of these variants start to spread in our community,” Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, said on Monday.
Henry’s comments came near the end of her COVID-19 briefing, where she announced more than 1,300 new cases and 26 deaths over three days and revealed that the province is now facing a shortage of COVID-19 vaccines.
“We are going to have very little vaccine,” said Henry. “As we knew, we are receiving no Pfizer vaccine and it is also a week where we do not receive any new vaccine from Moderna.”
She also raised alarm over the South African variation of COVID-19, which was detected in three people on the Lower Mainland who did not travel.
“These are of course concerning, because we know if we start to see rapid transmission, we could be in a position where we are having way more transmission in our communities than what we have right now,” she said.
The combination of a low vaccine supply and variants in the community, caused Henry to ask British Columbians to “do more” in order to reduce transmissions of the virus.
“My ask of you is to take a step back and remember that COVID-19 is still that unwelcome guest in our homes, in our workplaces, in our communities,” Henry pleaded. “I am asking you now, as much as possible, more than you’ve ever done before, to stay home, stop the social interactions, to focus on the key things that are keeping us together.”
With an average of about 500 new cases per day, Henry said the province has hit a plateau, but that it remains far too high and cases could skyrocket at any time.
“The virus continues to circulate in our communities and our immunization is working in these high-risk settings, but we are still at risk. We are at the threshold of where we were in late October, November when cases started rapidly escalating.”
B.C.’s top doctor also hinted that existing COVID-19 restrictions could possibly change depending on what happens over the coming weeks.
“This is the most challenging time for us. It is not the time to falter despite us being tired and frustrated and wanting it to be over. We need to hang in there,” she said. “We are so close but we need to do this now.”
RELATED: B.C. reports over 1,300 new COVID-19 cases as officials warn of low vaccine supply, variants
Nicholas Pescod
