750K vaccine appointment invitations sent as B.C.'s fall immunization campaign begins

B.C.'s Get Vaccinated system has sent approximately 750,000 invitations for residents to book fall COVID-19 and influenza vaccine appointments, Health Minister Adrian Dix said Tuesday, on the first day of the province's fall public vaccination campaign.

Thousands of health-care workers and long-term care residents have already received shots, and 30,000 appointments were scheduled to take place at pharmacies across the province for members of the public Tuesday, Dix said.

The health minister delivered the stats at the start of his remarks on the signing of B.C.'s agreement with the federal government that will see $1.2 billion in additional federal health transfers to the province over the next three years.

B.C. is the first province to enter such an agreement with Ottawa. 

Dix framed the vaccination campaign as an important step for British Columbians to take to help deal with the ongoing challenges the provincial health-care system is facing, including record demand and insufficient staff.

"What we can all do together to contribute and to help one another – to help those that we love and those that we don't know and, especially, to help those people who are working here in health care – is to get vaccinated," the health minister said.

"I strongly encourage people to get involved in that campaign and take all the actions they can to limit the spread of respiratory illness this winter."

Approximately 100,000 vaccination appointments have been booked for this week, Dix said.

Invitations to book through the online portal are being sent to "priority populations" first. These groups include those most at risk of serious illness, specifically people with chronic health conditions, people ages 65 and older, people who are pregnant and Indigenous people, as well as health-care workers and long-term-care residents.

Appointments can also be booked by calling 1-833-838-2323.