'Summer of hope': Vancouver Island adds 3 COVID-19 cases

Victoria -

B.C. health officials identified three new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Island region Tuesday.

The cases were among 56 new cases confirmed across the province over the past 24 hours.

B.C. has now reported 147,187 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began, including 5,153 cases found in the island region.

There are currently 44 active cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Island region, according to the BC Centre for Disease Control. Of those cases, four people are in hospital for treatment, and one more is receiving critical care.

Island Health identified the locations of 28 of the active cases Tuesday, including 15 in the South Island, 12 in the Central Island and one in the North Island.

Health officials say no COVID-19-related deaths occurred Tuesday. Since the pandemic began, 1,743 people have died of the disease in B.C. including 41 people from the island region.

Approximately 77.7 per cent of adults in B.C. have now received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, while 76.2 per cent of youth aged 12 and older have received their first shot.

B.C.'s top doctor says the province's vaccine rollout is holding steady. In total, B.C. has administered 4,511,923 vaccine doses, including 1,001,192 second doses.

"Now, more than a million people are fully immunized," said provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry on Tuesday.

Henry said B.C.'s reopening plan is "progressing well," but adds that getting vaccinated is crucial to the province's reopening.

"When we're immunized, we protect each other and we protect ourselves. That's how we can travel and have a better summer for all of us," she said, adding that the next few months could be a "summer of hope and summer of healing."

Henry added that fluctuations in vaccine supply means that the province will have more Moderna than Pfizer vaccine doses for the next several weeks.

She reiterated that it was safe to mix and match vaccine doses, and that British Columbians should "be assured it is safe and effective to have either dose here in Canada."