COVID-19 on Vancouver Island: Health officials to provide update

British Columbia health officials will provide an update Tuesday on the latest cases of COVID-19 in the province.

The update is expected to come in a written statement from the health ministry after 3 p.m.

Earlier Tuesday, health officials announced that all British Columbians will be offered a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine if they would like one.

The booster shots will be offered to select populations first, similar to how the first doses of vaccine were rolled out late last year.

Between now and December, third doses will be offered to clinically extremely vulnerable people who are immunosuppressed, residents in long-term care, and residents in rural and remote Indigenous communities.

The rollout is already underway for extremely vulnerable people, health officials say.

Soon after, the booster shots will be offered to all seniors aged 70 and older, as well as Indigenous people aged 12 and older.

Health-care workers who received their two doses of vaccine in a short interval, and staff who support long-term care homes and seniors in independent living will also be offered shots before the end of the year, approximately.

Between January and May, health officials will begin offering vaccine to the rest of the broader community, first by starting with clinically extremely vulnerable people who are not immunosuppressed, health-care workers in the community and lastly all remaining eligible British Columbians aged 12 and older.