The BC Centre for Disease Control announced the plan for vaccine distribution throughout the province on Jan. 7, detailing the stages in which different high-risk communities will be prioritized.

The distribution plan is broken down into stages, with the first two stages occurring between December to February and February to March. In the first wave, the vaccine will be available to residents, staff and essential visitors to longer term care and assisted living residences, as well as those waiting for placement into these facilities. The vaccine will also be extended to health care workers, and remote and isolated First Nations communities.

In the second phase, vaccination will become available to seniors ages 80 and up, and Indigenous seniors ages 65 and up. In addition, a wide array of high risk groups will be prioritized including the unhoused community, provincial correctional facilities, group homes, mental health residential care, home support staff and recipients, community general practitioners, medical specialists and any Indigenous communities that have not been vaccinated in the first stage.

Long term care homes have been the site of multiple outbreaks during the pandemic, with seniors over 85 making up the majority of deaths from COVID-19 in the country. According to recent data published on Jan. 13 by BC’s health ministry, 50 long term care homes in the province are managing outbreaks with five of those dealing each with over 100 cases.

On the order in which long term care homes were prioritized, Island Health responded to CFUV in an email stating that many different factors went in the decision.

“Island Health carefully evaluated the risk of transmission in each long-term care facility. Risk was determined based on a number of criteria including: multi-bed rooms and other infrastructure characteristics, outbreak history, the proximity of the care home to the vaccine distribution location, as well as ethical considerations," the email read. "Based on this evaluation, the long-term care facilities in the Island Health region have been prioritized by risk. As a result, the first vaccines were provided to long-term care staff in the Greater Victoria region.”