BC’s public health authorities are calling on British Columbians to protect themselves, their loved ones and their communities from influenza, COVID-19 and other viral respiratory illnesses, as the 2025-26 immunization campaign is underway.
Around 40 people were in hospitals across BC with COVID as of Friday, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said during a press conference.
The Ministry of Health has reimplemented its mask mandate for healthcare facilities across BC as the ongoing respiratory season is in full swing.
Interior Health advised today that a Spring COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic will be held at the Osoyoos Health Centre at 4816 – 89th Street on Friday, June 7 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Interior Health has noted the end of the respiratory illness season and announced the start of the spring COVID-19 vaccine boosters.
While Canadians are still knee deep in the trials and tribulations of winter, Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization is already looking to spring when it says certain groups of people vulnerable to severe illness from COVID-19 should get an extra dose of the latest vaccine.
The BC Centre for Disease Control (CDC) is reminding people to take prevention measures and seek care as levels of influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) infections in the province rise and have resulted in three influenza-associated deaths among children (under the age of 19) in the last two weeks of December.
Hospitals in the Interior Health region are inundated with influenza cases with six children in the province already dying from complications of the flu so far this season, about double that of an entire normal flu season.
The federal government reports that talks on the proposed National Park Reserve are continuing in person.
Recent hospitalization data for influenza and other respiratory viruses including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) show no major uptick in the Interior Health region but the authority is keeping an eye on the ongoing rising infections in Ontario and the prairie provinces.
Following the approval last month of the Moderna bivalent COVID-19 vaccine, the Pfizer-BioNTech version has now been approved by Health Canada.
The roll out of B.C.’s Omicron-targeted COVID-19 vaccine booster program will begin later this week with the first wave of invitations via email and text message in a similar fashion as previous vaccination rounds.
B.C. will soon be rolling out an Omicron-focused COVID-19 booster shot approved today by Health Canada for all residents 18 years and older.
Researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) have discovered a universal ‘weak spot’ in the COVID-19 virus that could be a potential game changer in fighting the virus.
The signs of summer’s waning are all around us. Back to school sales, shorter evenings, clearance sales off seasonal accoutrements, and so on. I even saw a formation of Canada Geese heading south the other night, a foreboding sight indeed.
And as Canadians bid adieu to another seemingly brief summer, attention inevitably returns to more serious matters of schooling, work, and of course COVID-19.
Oliver town council has approved the allocation of $136,249 in COVID-19 restart funding for several projects.
The COVID-19 virus is still out there waiting to pounce on unsuspecting victims.
The irony of the frontman of hardcore punk band D.O.A. becoming a respectable suit and tie wearing councillor for Greater Vancouver’s bedroom community of Burnaby is not lost on anyone, least of all Joe Keithley.
British Columbia health officials are still undecided on whether fourth vaccine doses will be made available to the general population as immunity to COVID-19 wanes and the possibility of future, more transmissible variants loom.
In another sure sign that life, despite the still-present pandemic, is returning to a version of ‘normal’, the Half Corked Marathon event ran like clockwork over the weekend in perfect weather, much to the sheer delight of all involved.
“The lack of COVID-19 cases is probably due to the protocols and the two-week isolation at arrival that was in place up until now.”
The Province will be providing a second round of COVID-19 vaccine booster shots for seniors and immunocompromised people.
More businesses are optimistic about life opening up more in the South Okanagan, thanks to the WOW trade show.