Category: important

How to get Vaccination in BC

r/vancouver - How to get vaccinated

BC’s vaccination program is ahead of schedule and with its delay of the second dose up to 4 months, everyone who wants a vaccination should be able to get one by the end of June. BC is scheduling 4 streams of appointments

(Source)

1) Age Based Rollout

  • Check your health authority and area for the exact age ranges
  • 72+ Pfizer and Moderna (born on or before 1949)
    • As of April 1st everyone born in 1949 (72+) or earlier can book an appointment. (Source)
    • The age based rollout is temporarily slowing down because 150,000 Critically Extremely Vulnerable are now available to get vaccinated. Expect this age based rollout to continue to go down starting next week (my speculation)
  • 55-65 (1956-1966) AstraZeneca in the Lower Mainland
    • People aged 55 to 65 in the Lower Mainland can start booking their AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine appointments on Wednesday, March 31st.
      • People can book online appointments at Rexall at 9 locations in the Lower Mainland (Source)
      • People can call their local pharmacy (link to Pharmacy locations) to book an appointment.
      • Drop in appointments may also be an option at over 150 participating pharmacies. (Source)
    • BC expects 43,000 COVAX (AstraZeneca doses that Canada procured from the COVAX program and made in South Korea) to arrive on Friday
    • Canada has received 1.5 million (203,800 doses for BC) AstraZeneca doses from the States on Tuesday, March 30th. Most of those doses will be delivered to the provinces by Saturday.

2) Critically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV)

  • As of today, April 1st, if you are clinically extremely vulnerable (see if you qualify: here) and you have received a letter from BC saying so you can start booking appointments. If you are CEV and have not received a letter you can call on April 15th to see if you qualify.
  • Visit this BC CDC site to find information to help you plan for your vaccine with considerations for your health condition (talks about medications and the right time to book an appointment, etc) (Source).

3) Indigenous Peoples

  • All Indigenous adults over 18+ (born 2003 or earlier) can start booking their appointments

4) Frontline workers

  • This streamline is now temporarily suspended because NACI has temporary stopped advising the use of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine for those under the age of 55. I will keep you posted about any further updates.
  • How to tell if you are a frontline worker (Source, slides 4-11)
  • If you are in this group your employer will contact you how to get vaccinated.

Latest Information (as of 9:15pm March 31st):

  • In Fraser Health you can qualify if you are a Health Care Worker if you live or work in FHA (examples: Physiotherapists, Chiropractors, etc). Full list (Source), just scroll down until you get to Health Care Workers.
  • Fraser Health online booking is only available from 7pm to 7am (Source). You can still book via phone calls from 7am to 7pm. They are taking their online system off line during the day to get ready for the province wide online system.
  • Northern Health is taking a whole community approach and will be vaccinating all adults (18+) in a city, check this schedule to see if/when it affects you (Source)
  • As of March 29th, the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine is no longer being offered to people under the age of 55 in BC. This is following the advice of NACI (National Advisory Committee on Immunization) (Source).

Vaccination Information

  • As of March 31st, BC has vaccinated 756,080 doses in total. 87,351 people have received their second dose and 668,729 BCers have gotten their first dose.
  • That means that 13% of our total population (and 15.5% of our adult population) has at least one dose.
  • BC vaccinated 31,887 people today (our highest number thus far).
  • BC has received 981,060 doses and have used up 77% of those doses.
  • In the last 7 days BC has administered 173,446 doses (24,778 doses per day)

BC’s Immunization Plan (as of March 23rd)
Check out your local health authority for exact information as age ranges and vaccine rollout can be different in each region.

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How to book a vaccine appointment

Get ready to call

When you call your health authority, you’ll be asked for:

  • First and last name
  • Date of birth
  • Postal code
  • Personal Health Number

You can find your Personal Health Number on the back of your B.C. driver’s licence, BC Services Card or CareCard. If you do not have a Personal Health Number, you can still receive the vaccine.

We’ll also ask you for contact information:

  • An email address that gets checked regularlyor
  • A phone number that can receive text messages

We will never ask you for your SIN, driver’s licence number or banking and credit card details.

I’m calling for myself

Here’s what happens when you call:

  • The phone agent verifies your age and asks for your personal information
  • You work with the phone agent to select an appointment time slot at a clinic close to home
  • The phone agent confirms your appointment time and clinic location
  • If you’ve provided contact information, you get a confirmation message sent by email or text

I’m calling on behalf of someone

Here’s what happens when you call on behalf of someone:

  • The phone agent verifies who you are calling for and asks you to provide their age and personal information
  • You work with the phone agent to select an appointment time slot at a clinic close to the home of the person you’re calling for
  • The phone agent confirms the appointment time and clinic location
  • If you’ve provided contact information, you get a confirmation message sent by email or text

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Select your health authority and call

All call centres are open. Not sure who to call? Find out what health authority you live in. Online booking for the whole province will start on April 6th.

Call centre hours

Seven days a week, 7 am to 7 pm (PDT)

9 am to 5 pm Good Friday and Easter Monday.

Phone lines may be busy. We recommend calling in the late afternoon or evening.

Fraser Health (website)

for the latest info and who is eligible.

Call: 1-855-755-2455 from 7am to 7pm

Book online from 7pm to 7am

Fraser Health clinic locations

Interior Health (website)

For the latest info and who is eligible.

Call: 1-877-740-7747

Interior Health clinic locations

Island Health (website)

For the latest info and who is eligible.

Call: 1-833-348-4787

Island Health clinic locations and call-in schedule

Northern Health (website)

For the latest info and who is eligible.

Call: 1-844-255-7555

Northern Health clinic locations and call-in schedule

Vancouver Coastal Health (website)

For the latest info and who is eligible.

Call: 1-877-587-5767

Vancouver Coastal Health clinic locations and call-in schedule

Note: Northern Health and some rural and smaller communities in B.C. may have different call-in schedules. Review your health authority call-in schedule to confirm when you should call.

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What to expect at the age based vaccine clinic

Only people who are eligible and have an appointment will get their vaccine dose. Please do not show up at a clinic unless you have an appointment and your age group is eligible.

As part of Phase 2, you will get either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. A choice will not be offered.

Arrive prepared

Get ready for your appointment:

  • Wear a short-sleeved shirt and a mask
  • Arrive a few minutes before your scheduled appointment time

You can bring one person with you for support.

All clinics are wheelchair accessible. You will be provided a mask if you need one.

During the appointment

At the clinic you will:

You can expect to be at the clinic for 30 to 60 minutes in total.

I still have questions

Need help? Talk to a Service BC agent about non-health related information and services related to COVID-19.

Service is available 7:30 am to 8 pm.

Call: 1-888-COVID19