VANCOUVER -- As B.C. health officials shift their COVID-19 vaccine strategy to emphasize areas with high transmission of the coronavirus, the latest map of infection data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control illustrates the strategy's past success and highlights areas where it could be helpful in the future.

The most recent BCCDC map shows the number of cases recorded in each of the province's "local health areas" during the week of April 18 to 24, as well as an approximate number of daily new cases per 100,000 residents in each zone.

The local health area that includes most of the City of Surrey continues to have the highest number of cases on the map, a distinction it has held on every map the BCCDC has published.

The region recorded 1,760 new cases during the week shown on the map, up from 1,698 the week before. That total equates to more than 20 new infections per 100,000 residents each day during the week in question.

Other nearby regions with similar rates of per-capita transmission saw their case totals stay the same or decline from week to week. The local health area that includes the City of Abbotsford saw 489 cases during the week that ended April 24, essentially unchanged from 492 the week before.

Likewise, the local health area that includes the City and Township of Langley recorded 303 new cases during the week shown on the map, down from 340 during the preceding week.

That pattern holds for the City of Delta as well, which saw 192 cases during the week in question, down from 241 the week before.

These trends come as Fraser Health holds vaccination clinics in hotspots around the region, including in certain neighbourhoods in Surrey, Langley, Delta and Abbotsford. 

A clinic in Surrey's Newton neighbourhood on Wednesday drew massive lineups, with some people waiting in line overnight in hopes of getting a shot. 

The hope is that the hotspot clinics will prove effective at reducing transmission in the health authority that has recorded the majority of B.C.'s COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began.

Similar mass vaccination efforts elsewhere in the province have been successful at achieving this goal, albeit in much less densely populated regions.

During the week shown on the latest BCCDC map, for example, the Howe Sound local health area recorded just 50 new cases, its lowest total in weeks.

The region, which includes Whistler, was hit hard by the P.1 variant of the coronavirus commonly associated with Brazil.

Earlier this month, Vancouver Coastal Health began offering COVID-19 vaccines to anyone over 18 who lives or works in Whistler. Last week, the Howe Sound region finally dropped below 20 new cases per 100,000 residents per day, according to the BCCDC map.

Similarly, the northwest B.C. region of Prince Rupert was the site of a mass vaccination effort in March after rampant coronavirus transmission there. During the week shown on the latest map, Prince Rupert recorded just two new infections.

In recent weeks, the transmission hotspot in Northern Health has shifted from the northwest to the northeast. On the latest map, the local health areas of Fort Nelson, Peace River North and Peace River South all show more than 20 cases per 100,000 residents per day.

Currently, the only region in Northern Health specifically targeted in the province's vaccine plan for high-transmission neighbourhoods is Dawson Creek. However, Northern Health has been holding vaccination clinics around the region, often targeting everyone age 18 or older in smaller communities.