some of the 13,500 doses are set to expire by april 2, which adds to the urgency of getting shots in people’s arms.
“this is a relatively small amount of vaccine we needed to move on right away. there are a limited number of appointments,” said dix, adding the response to date has been an “extraordinarily quick, effective and efficient reaction to a change in circumstance.”
there are 275,457 people aged 55 to 65 in the fraser health region and 176,431 in vancouver coastal, according to 2019 population data.
annette robinson, president of the b.c. pharmacy association, said she understands people’s frustrations in trying to book vaccination slots, but appealed for patience. “we are working as hard as we can to get shots in arms.”
the rollout is “as good as could be expected,” she said. “there’s been overwhelming interest … and a lot of pent-up demand.”
as more vaccines arrive, she expects pharmacies across b.c. will eventually be involved in the rollout.
for now, there are about 150 pharmacies in fraser health and vancouver coastal health regions offering the jab. the b.c. pharmacy association website has
, which will be updated regularly in the coming weeks.