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Booster clinic numbers low, COVID cases high in Prince Rupert

Good news - no Omicron in P.R hospital
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No appointment was necessary to just walk in and see the friendly faces of CDC nurses at the Jim Ciccone community-wide vaccine and booster clinic being held on Jan. 26 and 27. (Photo: Norman Galimski/The Northern View)

Community COVID-19 cases numbers in Prince Rupert and area are “very high”, Julia Pemberton, health services administrator for Northern Health said, on Jan. 28.

Despite high case numbers, there’s still good news for Prince Rupert she said, adding it is reassuring there are no Omicron positive COVID-19 patients in the city hospital, as of Jan. 26.

“I know people are worried because of Omicron,” Pemberton said.”But we’ve probably had one [case] in the last three weeks.”

“From the week of Jan. 9 to 15, we had 90 cases in Prince Rupert which is high because before Omicron, we were in the single digits. We were under 10,” she said. “So, in three to four weeks, we’ve gone from single digits to almost triple digits. Definitely, you can see that Omicron is here.”

The third wave of the pandemic which hit last January and February was extremely difficult on many levels. Pemberton said.

“This is very, very different. I’m sure it affects businesses more. It affects people’s personal lives more because there are just more people who are ill, but it means people are managing this illness at home.”

This is great news she said because it is predominantly due to the vaccines.

“We know that people who are vaccinated and boosted are still contracting COVID. But, the vaccines are keeping them from having a severe illness.”

Pemberton told The Northern View she does worry about community complacency surrounding vaccines and boosters and encourages everyone eligible to obtain the vaccines.

From Jan. 5 to 15, she said there were 90 cases of COVID-19 in Prince Rupert,

More than 936 vaccinations were provided to Prince Rupert and area residents at the third community-wide COVID-19 clinic which came to a close on Jan. 27.

More than 450 boosters and vaccines were administered on Jan. 24, the first day of the four-day clinic held at the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre.

Lower numbers at the third community clinic were expected Pemberton said as 3o per cent of the population had already had a booster before the open clinic. The downtown health unit has been administering 100 to 200 shots per day.

With the first community-wide mass clinic being held in March 2021 and the second vaccine clinic held in July, it makes sense that most of the Prince Rupert and area population vaccinated at those events are now eligible for their booster vaccine.

“While the numbers were fewer than expected they still resulted in 40 per cent of the eligible community being boosted,” she said.

Prior to the clinic, 88 per cent of the Prince Rupert community was double vaccinated. It was estimated, she said, that between 50 per cent to 60 per cent of the population needed a third dose or booster.

“So we did expect lower numbers than dose one and dose two mass clinics. But, we were hopeful that this was the best way to reach that bulk of population,” the Northern Health administrator said.


 K-J Millar | Journalist 
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