6 per cent of health-care workers in B.C. Interior unvaccinated, significantly more than in other regions

Vancouver -

Ninety-seven per cent of health-care workers in B.C. are at least partially vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data released by the provincial government on Friday, just days after a public health order requiring such workers to have at least one dose took effect.

Thousands of health-care workers in B.C. remain unvaccinated, however, and Health Minister Adrian Dix says vaccination rates in Interior Health are of particular concern.

"The most serious concern is for the Interior Health authority, where approximately six per cent of health-care workers are unvaccinated," Dix told reporters on Friday. "In other health authorities, it's considerably less than that."

That six per cent works out to 1,235 individual workers in Interior Health, or more than one-third of the 3,668 unvaccinated health-care workers in the entire province.

Dix said he expects there will be some effects in Interior Health as a result of the vaccine mandate.

"We were, I think, well-prepared for this week, although it was a challenge," he said. "It's over the next two weeks that we'll be looking at supporting - potentially supporting - Interior Health a little bit in some areas."

As of Oct. 26, health-care workers who haven't received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine are being placed on unpaid administrative leave.

Dix said their absences will mean different things in different places, and that the province will be addressing needs within individual facilities as they arise. He didn't elaborate on what kind of "support" would be available to facilities in Interior Health, but provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said earlier in the week that B.C. would attempt to move vaccinated workers around to compensate for staff shortages. 

The number of unvaccinated health-care workers - excluding those working in long-term care - in each health authority as of Friday was as follows:

• Interior Health: 1,235 unvaccinated (six per cent of regional total)
• Fraser Health: 595 unvaccinated (two per cent)
• Island Health: 543 unvaccinated (two per cent)
• Vancouver Coastal Health: 479 unvaccinated (two per cent)
• Northern Health: 353 unvaccinated (four per cent)