VICTORIA -- B.C. health officials have confirmed 43 more cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Island region Tuesday.

The new cases were among 873 found across the province over the past 24 hours.

There are now 551 active cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Island region. Island Health identified the locations of 467 active cases Tuesday, including 250 in the South Island, 190 in the Central Island and 27 in the North Island.

The Island Health region has now confirmed 4,082 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

Health officials say Tuesday's case count is preliminary, due to a reporting delay with the province's recording systems.

B.C. recorded two more deaths from COVID-19 in B.C. on Tuesday, bringing the province's death toll to 1,515.

No deaths were reported in the Island Health region, where 33 people have died of the virus. There are currently 18 people in hospital for treatment of COVID-19 on Vancouver Island, and four more are receiving critical care.

The province has now confirmed 5,221 COVID-19 variant cases. Of that total, 258 cases are currently active, according to health officials. The province says it now plans to update information on variant cases once a week instead of daily.

On Monday, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said that variant cases made up approximately 50 per cent of B.C.'s active COVID-19 cases.

As of Tuesday, B.C. has administered 1,148,993 COVID-19 vaccine doses, including 87,785 second doses.

"We are adapting our vaccine delivery in step with our supply and will continue to do that moving forward," said Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix in a joint statement.

"If needed, we will pivot, pause or shift our delivery to maximize protection to as many people as possible," they said.

B.C.'s parallel immunization programs – one based on age and the other focused on high-priority workers – both continue, say health officials.

Henry and Dix say that the province is currently focused on immunizing people working in "transmission hot spots," as well as frontline workers such as first responders, school staff and childcare workers.

"Whether your appointment is next week or next month, the benefit for all of us is that with each person who receives their vaccine, we all have a little bit more protection," said Henry and Dix.