Results from the funded study: Best Practices for Mitigating the Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern
Pillar 8
Public Health, Health Systems and Social Policy Impacts
Soon after Health Canada authorized the first COVID-19 vaccine for use in Canada in early December 2020, each of the provinces and territories launched a vaccination campaign with the objectives of saving lives and ending the pandemic. This report provides an overview of activities taken in British Columbia (BC) to roll out and promote the uptake of the primary series of a COVID-19 vaccine to adults during the first year of vaccine availability.
The report describes the vaccination program in British Columbia’s:
- Governance;
- Underlying principles;
- Prioritization of population groups;
- Efforts to ensure access;
- Public communications strategies; and
- Actions to establish sufficient infrastructure and health workforce capacity.
One of a series of provincial case studies, this report can be used to understand BC’s program in depth, as well as to compare and contrast provincial COVID-19 vaccination campaigns.
British Columbia’s goal was to vaccinate all eligible residents by September 2021. Its vaccination campaign leadership was highly centralized, but also characterized by high levels of coordination between key stakeholders and health organizations. Some unique initiatives were undertaken in areas of the province to improve vaccine access, including the operation of overnight clinics for shift workers and the dispatch of teams to travel door-to-door to register individuals for vaccination and provide them with means of access to get to clinics. Mobile clinics were also used to increased access to people in rural communities and homebound individuals. As of November 6, 2021, 86% of adults in BC had received two doses, which slightly exceeded the national average of 85%.