Port Coquitlam had one of the highest infection rates of COVID-19 cases in the province last week prompting the provincial health officials to include the city in a targeted vaccination campaign.
Data from the BC Centre for Disease Control released Monday indicated Port Coquitlam had an infection rate of over 275 per 100,000 people for the week ending April 17.
That puts the city among the top 10 highest infection rates of any community in the province.
PORT COQUITLAM TARGETED IN VACCINE CAMPAIGN
Provincial health authorities have already rolled out vaccination campaigns in high-risk communities such as Whistler, Prince Rupert and several Indigenous groups (small interior communities like Invermere and Enderby are also on that list).
On Monday, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry provided community-level data on neighbourhoods with some of the highest levels of COVID-19 in the province.
Nearly all of the 13 communities with high levels of infection are in the Metro Vancouver area, and include several Surrey neighbourhoods, jurisdictions in Delta, Abbotsford and Langley, one neighbourhood in Vancouver and all of Port Coquitlam.
Based on an increased risk of hospitalization in these 13 high-risk communities, later this week the province will offer special clinics of the AstraZeneca vaccine sourced from the United States to everyone between age 40 and 55.
Those in one of the high-transmission neighbourhoods can register for a vaccine appointment online. You will be offered an appointment at one of Fraser Health's special clinics on the same day you book, according to a press release from the Ministry of Health.
"Prioritizing high-transmission neighbourhoods will help protect more people against COVID-19, reduce transmission in places it is occurring and help B.C.'s hospitals continue to operate effectively through the third wave," wrote a ministry spokesperson in a press release Monday evening.
Any Port Coquitlam resident over 40 looking to book an appointment will be required to enter their postal code to confirm eligibility. Once booked, you will need to produce a driver's licence, BC Services Card or the Personal Health Number on your CareCard at the clinic.
Meanwhile, the province-wide program offering AstraZeneca at select pharmacies continues to operate (see the map below).
That’s in addition to the distribution of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine currently being administered through B.C.’s age-based vaccine campaign. Public health teams are currently booking vaccine appointments for British Columbians aged 63 and over under this program.
Indigenous people over age 18 and those deemed “clinically extremely vulnerable” between age 16 to 74 and who have received their patient invitation letter are also eligible to get vaccinated.
As of April 20, those aged 35 and older can now register to receive a booking invitation when their time comes.
TARGETED CAMPAIGN COMES AMID SURGING CASES
The flagging of Port Coquitlam as a high-transmission neighbourhood comes amid weeks of surging cases in the Tri-Cities.
Last week, the Tri-Cities local health area had the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases in the province after Surrey, leading provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry to call out the region for its high rates of transmission.
The elevated caseloads have also been reflected in the shuttering of a number of local businesses where public health and WorkSafeBC found clusters of the virus.
And by Tuesday, April 20, over two dozen schools had been flagged for COVID-19 exposures across the Tri-Cities.
