The number of British Columbians now fully vaccinated against COVID-19 passed the three-million threshold in the past 24 hours, according to new government statistics.
The number of B.C. residents who have received at least one jab of vaccine rose to 3,758,385, with 3,008,360 people having had two jabs. The government estimates that this translates into 81.1% of the eligible population being vaccinated at least once, and 64.9% of the eligible population being vaccinated twice.
The B.C. government's most recent estimate of the province's total population is 5,147,712, so that means that about 73% of B.C.'s total population has had at least one dose of vaccine, and 58.4% of the province's total population has had two doses.
The pace of vaccinations has slowed somewhat, however. Health officials in the past day jabbed arms in 5,328 previously unvaccinated people, as well as 36,567 people who needed second doses of vaccine. Not that long ago, provincial officials regularly provided more than 60,000 doses of vaccine in a day.
While more vaccinations are expected to reduce the spread of the disease, case counts have been trending upward.
B.C. health officials detected 243 new infections in the past 24 hours – the highest number of new cases in a day since May 28, when there were 317 cases discovered. New infections within that time frame included one day, on July 5, when only 20 new infections were detected. That is the lowest total for new infections in a day in the past year.
Most of the 1,231 people known to be battling active infections have been told to self-isolate, although 47 are in hospitals, with 16 of those in intensive care units. There were no new COVID-19-related deaths in the past day, so the province's death toll from the pandemic stays at 1,771.
Nearly 98%, or 146,876, of the 149,889 people known to have contracted COVID-19 in B.C. are considered by the province to have recovered because they have gone 10 days after first feeling symptoms, and are therefore thought to not be infectious.
The Interior Health region continues to be the hot spot within B.C., with most new infections and most active infections.
Here is a breakdown of where the 243 new COVID-19 infections in B.C. are, by health region:
• 56 in Fraser Health (23%);
• 32 in Vancouver Coastal Health (13.2%);
• 131 in Interior Health (53.9%);
• nine in Northern Health (3.7%);
• 13 in Island Health (5.3%); and
• two people who normally resides outside B.C. (0.8%).
Here is a breakdown of where the 1,231 active COVID-19 infections in B.C. are, by health region:
• 277 in Fraser Health (22.5%);
• 160 in Vancouver Coastal Health (13%);
• 693 in Interior Health (56.3%);
• 28 in Northern Health (2.2%);
• 65 in Island Health (5.3%); and
• eight people who normally resides outside B.C. (0.6%).
The province continues to have two COVID-19 outbreaks at seniors' homes: Holyrood Manor in Maple Ridge, and Nelson Jubilee Manor in Nelson.
