Victoria Conference Centre to serve as COVID-19 vaccine site: Island Health

VICTORIA -- The Victoria Conference Centre has been added to the list of COVID-19 vaccination sites on Vancouver Island.

The conference centre at 720 Douglas St. will serve as a major vaccine site for Victoria residents when it opens on April 12.

Currently, the only other vaccine site in the city is the Native Friendship Centre on Regina Avenue, which opened on March 18.

The province is launching a website Tuesday to allow residents to book vaccination appointments online.

At the same time, the province will streamline its phone system for vaccine appointments in B.C.

Rather than the current system which employs different phone numbers for each local health authority, the province will take all vaccine appointment calls at 1-833-838-2323.

On Tuesday, people aged 71 and older and Indigenous people aged 18 and older can register for a vaccine. Appointments for people who are aged 16 to 74 and are considered clinically extremely vulnerable will also be available.

More than 770,000 British Columbians have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the province.

The full list of vaccine sites on Vancouver Island and the southern Gulf Islands is available here.