COVID and flu shots will be available to the public starting Oct. 10, and medical masks will be required for all staff, visitors, contractors and volunteers in health-care settings starting Tuesday.
Provincial health officer Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix made the announcements at a news conference in Vancouver Thursday on the fall vaccination campaign.
Settings where masks will be required include all health-authority-owned facilities, hospitals, and long-term care and patient-care settings.
Long-term-care residents and health-care workers will receive their shots as soon as vaccines arrive in B.C., Henry and Dix said.
Shots will be available to the public through more than 1,200 pharmacies as well as community clinics and primary-care clinics.
“We need and we want everyone, when they’re invited to do so, to get vaccinated,” Dix said. “It’s important for influenza. It’s important for COVID-19.”
Both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have now received Health Canada approval for their updated monovalent mRNA vaccine, which has been adapted to the Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5.
The new formulation is expected to be effective against circulating Omicron strains EG.5 and XBB.1.16 as well as BA.2.86. Henry said Thursday there’s been just one reported case in B.C. of the latter strain.
Vaccination will have a staggered start, with invitations to book appointments — via the government’s website GetVaccinated.gov.bc.ca or toll-free phone number 1-833-838-2323 — going out to priority groups starting in early October.
Priority groups for vaccination include people of any age in long-term care, those 65 and older, people with chronic health conditions such as cancer, HIV, hepatitis C and diabetes, Indigenous peoples, people who are pregnant, and health-care workers.
Public health officials recommend getting the COVID-19 vaccine at least six months from the previous COVID-19 vaccine dose or known infection
Henry said while most people in B.C. have some immunity to COVID-19 through vaccination or infection, it’s waning. Those who have recently been infected with Omicron know it’s “not a pleasant infection” and still comes with the risk of severe illness and long-term symptoms for those who are most vulnerable, she said.
“This is the best protection we have, that will keep us from getting sick during [these] next few months,” said Henry.
British Columbians are being encouraged to get their COVID and flu shots at the same appointment. Most pharmacies will offer both.
Health authorities also have surge plans in place to host community clinics for children and families, for instance.
As for masks, ambassadors will be posted at most health-care facility entrances to ensure proper mask-wearing, Henry said.
Dentist and doctors’ offices will be given recommendations and guidance around masking.
While visitors will be required to wear masks in long-term care residences, there will also be opportunities for face-to-face visits, Henry said.
Vaccination will continue to be mandatory for health-care workers, including nurses. Health-care workers who were not previously vaccinated will be considered fully vaccinated if they receive the newly updated COVID-19 shot.
Unvaccinated health-care workers will continue to be prohibited from working in hospitals and long-term care homes.
Dix said in this fourth year of the COVID 19 pandemic, most people know the drill: “We know we need to get vaccinated, we know we need to wash our hands …We know what to do and what we need to remind ourselves.”
