Today, the B.C. Ministry of Health announced additional doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will be made available to more community pharmacies in the Lower Mainland to support vaccinations of eligible patients between 55 and 65.
Since pharmacies began receiving vaccines on Mar. 31, the response from eligible patients has been overwhelming. Many pharmacies quickly became fully booked as thousands of British Columbians reached out to their local pharmacists to secure appointments.
The new supply is being distributed to an additional 375 community pharmacy locations in the Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health regions of the Lower Mainland. This brings the total number of pharmacies offering COVID vaccine appointments to 488. The BCPhA will continue to update the list of pharmacies offering COVID-19 vaccine appointments as they come online.
Vaccines are expected to arrive as early as Monday at these new pharmacy locations. Patients can look to book appointments for next week.
"We appreciate the partnership with Minister Dix and the vaccine rollout team and the ability to move quickly to get pharmacists involved. Yesterday, we saw clearly that British Columbians really want their vaccines," said Annette Robinson, President of the BC Pharmacy Association.
"The new doses means thousands more people in the 55 to 65 age group will receive their vaccines in the coming days. This is a strong addition to our province's goal of immunizing all British Columbians."