The lifting of more British Columbia health restrictions is likely as the COVID-19 vaccination plan rolls out across the province, Premier John Horgan said Wednesday.
However, Horgan says he’s not prepared to speculate on what limits could be placed on people who have not yet received their COVID-19 shot.
“We’ll have more to say as we can, but I don’t want to give false hope nor do I want to give an indication to any group or sector that they’re in a position to change their behaviour,” Horgan said during a news conference.
The premier said he wanted people in B.C., regardless of their vaccine status, to remain vigilant and continue to fight COVID-19.
“We will be making more changes as more people get vaccinated,” said Horgan. “Those who have been vaccinated will have a bit more flexibility of course because they are less risk to the people around them and the people around them are less risk to them.”
He said the pace of relaxing health regulations is a matter determined by provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and members of the government’s health team.
British Columbia is reporting 498 new cases of COVID-19 and four more deaths, pushing the death toll in the province to 1,411.
Among 89,427 cases of COVID-19 diagnosed to date, 4,851 remain active, including 281 people hospitalized with the illness.
A joint statement from provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix says no data about variant cases is available Wednesday due to a lab sequencing issue.
More than 444,000 doses of three approved COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in B.C. and appointment bookings are now open for people aged 82 and older, along with Indigenous people over the age of 65.(yahoo news, CP)