B.C. uses up all doses of COVID-19 vaccine, trying to 'be nimble' while working with feds

Dr. Bonnie Henry is given the COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020. (Government of B.C.)

VANCOUVER — Officials in British Columbia say they're "trying to be nimble" as they work with their federal counterparts on the distribution plan for COVID-19 vaccines.

Speaking to media Monday, provincial health officer Bonnie Henry said she expected B.C. would be out of the vaccine made by Pfizer by the end of the day.

Additionally, the doctor said all the Moderna vaccine had been allocated or used up.

The setback will be temporary, however, as more shipments are expected to arrive Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Henry said.

She told reporters she'd gotten an email "a couple of hours ago" with details about what time each of the lots will be arriving, in which province and where.

"It is something that we are still trying to be nimble with and work through with our federal counterparts who do the delivery service," Henry said.

Health Minister Adrian Dix said the province has been looking at supply on a daily basis, and monitoring results of the roll-out.

He said those in B.C. are working closely with Ottawa.

"We know they're doing everything they can with the seven contracts they have …to get vaccines to us, and we're doing everything we can to deliver it," Dix said.

"It's our expectation the weeks and months to come will be a team effort."

He said Henry's and his comments about running out of vaccine were not criticisms, it's just happened because the province is using a lot of doses.

"We're out of vaccine for a short period, and then we'll hopefully have quite a bit more."

Henry said a total of 59,902 vaccinations had been given in B.C. as of Sunday, and they expected what was left of the 71,200 doses to have been used by Monday evening.

"Much thought and consideration has gone into our immunization delivery and approach. And we started slow and steady and made sure we had all of the building blocks in place," she said.

"The approach is based on our available supply, where the highest risks in our province (are), and who is at risk to be most severely impacted by the virus. And this has been the approach that we've taken, recognizing that we have a limited amount of vaccine that is coming between now and the end of March."

The latest distribution forecast from Health Canada suggests B.C. can expect another 28,275 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to arrive per week between Jan. 11 and the end of the month.

Starting in February, B.C. is forecast to receive nearly 50,000 doses a week of the Pfizer vaccine.

Shipments of Moderna's vaccine appear to be less frequent.

Health Canada says B.C. will get 20,700 doses this week, 28,500 in the first week of February, and 31,000 in the last week of February.