B.C. health officials are reporting 514 new COVID-19 cases today as well as five more deaths with 71 new cases in Interior Health.

Active cases are now at 4,557 provincewide, with 291 people in hospital, 74 in intensive care. In Interior Health there are 1,026 active cases – down by three from yesterday – with 46 people in hospital, 16 in ICU – with no deaths in the health authority today.

“That is relatively lower than it was earlier in January, and that’s a good sign,” Health Minister Adrian Dix said of the number of people in hospital.

There were no new cases at Royal Inland Hospital or at the Brocklehurst Gemstone Care Centre in Kamloops. There was one additional case linked to the cluster at Big White Ski Resort, taking the total to 226 – with 15 cases currently active.

There were another 24 cases linked to a community cluster in the Williams Lake area with 338 people testing positive since Jan. 1, 134 of which are currently active. Also in the Williams Lake area, the outbreak at Cariboo Memorial Hospital is at 13 cases among staff with no patients affected.

Of the new cases, 220 were in Fraser Health, 134 in the Vancouver Coastal Health, 57 in Northern Health, and 29 on Vancouver Island.

“This has been an extraordinary and challenging year. All of our normal rituals have been thrown apart and reassembled,” said Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry. “Everything from births to deaths, graduations, weddings. But we have adapted.”

Henry also noted that all people in long-term care facilities in B.C. have been offered a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine with “very high” uptake.

“While this protection for those who are most vulnerable is an important milestone for all of us, we must continue to remain vigilant,” Henry said.

Earlier in the day, Premier John Horgan said the B.C. government is supportive of the new travel restrictions brought in by the federal government.

“With vaccines on the way, we look forward to the day when we can once again welcome visitors to B.C. safely,” Horgan said. “Until then, we ask everyone to please stay home.”

Of the province’s 66,779 total cases, about 89 per cent or 59,551 have recovered “to various degrees, as we have learned,” said Henry.

Uncertainty with COVID vaccine supply

On the vaccine front, Dr. Henry says there have been 129,241 doses of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine that have been administered in the province, with 4,262 of those being second doses.

She said there continue to be issues with the vaccine supply with an additional delay of the Moderna vaccine reported earlier today. It is expected to reduce the number of Moderna vaccine doses received next week by 20 per cent, according to Henry.

“It’s disappointing for all of us,” she said. “We are working with what we have available to address those most at risk.”

“We are working with what we have available to best address those most at risk and those hotspots and outbreaks that are happening around the province.”

The province received zero doses of the Pfizer vaccine this past week and will receive a reduced number of doses for the next two weeks. However, Henry says there could be good news on the horizon as Health Canada hinted that it may soon approve the AstraZeneca vaccine for use in the country.

“That is good news for us. Obviously they don’t tell us until they’ve had a full assessment…but we are meeting on Sunday morning to talk about that, so I expect it will be soon,” Henry said.