On the day B.C. health officials announced plans to vaccinate front line workers ahead of schedule, the province is reporting 622 new cases of COVID-19 and eight deaths.

There were 30 new cases in Interior Health. Fraser Health reported 317 new cases, with another 184 new cases in the Vancouver Coastal Health, 54 in Northern Health, 35 in Island Health, and two new cases among people who live outside of Canada.

There were also another 136 new confirmed COVID-19 cases that are variants of concern for a total of 1,132 cases, with 143 currently active. There are now 1,040 cases of the B.1.1.7 (U.K.) variant, 41 cases of the B.1.351 (South Africa) variant, and 51 cases of the P.1 (Brazil) variant.

Active cases provincewide are holding steady at 4,941, with 286 people in hospital, 85 in ICU. Another 9,620 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases.

There have been 465,584 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine administered in B.C., 87,120 of which are second doses.

Vaccine appointment bookings are open for people over 81 today and for people 80 and older tomorrow, along with Indigenous peoples over 65. People between the age of 75 and 79 will be able to book their appointments ahead of schedule, starting this Saturday.

“With the steady supply of three safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines in B.C., we are making meaningful strides in our provincewide pandemic response and immunization program, “Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry said.

“On our current age-based trajectory, everyone who is eligible for a vaccine will have access to a vaccine before July 1, 2021. This is encouraging news for all of us.”

There are now 83,613 people who are considered to have recovered, about 93 per cent of the 90,049 cases in British Columbia.