COVID-19 vaccine for B.C. expected to roll out in 1st week of January, provincial health officer says

If everything goes according to plan, everyone in B.C. who wants the COVID-19 vaccine will be immunized by next September, Dr. Bonnie Henry said Thursday.

The provincial health officer explained that a more detailed plan for vaccine rollout will be available early next week, but the first shots should be available early in the new year.

"We're going to make sure we are absolutely ready by then," Henry said. "We are planning to be able to put vaccine into arms in the first week of January."

She expects that two vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna will begin arriving in B.C. early in the new year but only about six million doses will be available across Canada.

"That's not enough for everybody," Henry said.

The first priority will likely be to immunize the most vulnerable populations, including residents of long-term care homes, as well as health-care workers.

Two other vaccines produced by AstraZeneca and Janssen are anticipated in the second quarter of 2021.

"By the time we get into April of 2021, we're expecting increased numbers of all the vaccines to be available and that's when we can start offering it to more people across British Columbia," Henry said.

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It won't be possible to reach everyone at once, so there will have to be a strategy for sequencing who receives it.

"As long as the vaccine continues to come in, as long as the safety and the effectiveness is good … we hope to have everybody done by September of next year," Henry said.

She has repeatedly said the vaccine will not be mandatory.