oneVCH COVID-19 Bulletin

April 26, 2021

(L-R) Eva Mackenzie, Brent Fitzsimmons, Terri Havill and Robby Gillard stand with the recently purchased mobile health service van, supported by the Sechelt Hospital Foundation. This van will be used for immunization purposes along the Sunshine Coast.

COVID-19 VACCINATION PROGRAM B.C. expected to receive Johnson & Johnson vaccine

Canada is expecting its first shipment of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week. Dr. Bonnie Henry, Provincial Health Officer, said today that B.C. should be receiving the vaccine soon after and that the province is already developing plans for its use. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is given in a single dose and is refrigerator-stable, which provides more flexibility. Dr. Henry stated that the province hopes to administer some of this vaccine to those who may be harder to reach for their second dose.

B.C. maintains 16-week interval between doses for people considered clinically extremely vulnerable

Dr. Henry said today that the province has looked into whether people considered clinically extremely vulnerable should receive their second dose sooner than 16 weeks and has not found evidence to support this. Dr. Henry said there is still not enough information about how many antibodies a person needs to build protection again the virus. At this time, the province is focused on ensuring that as many people as possible are offered their first dose of vaccine.

For more information on extended dose intervals, read the full statement from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization.

QUESTION OF THE DAY Will the personal information collected through the provincial immunization program be shared?

Any information gathered through the immunization program is considered personal health information and it will not be shared with any other government agencies or third parties. This information is collected in part to keep a record of who has received their vaccine so far and when it is time for their second dose.

Questions? Check out our COVID-19 vaccine page for FAQs →

MEDICAL STAFF (PHYSICIANS, MIDWIVES, NURSE PRACTITIONERS & DENTISTS) Q&A: Second doses

Q: Are second doses being accelerated for health-care workers?

A: All provinces have adopted the 16-week interval between doses and VCH is abiding by that recommendation. We have not seen break-though disease among health-care workers or had any concern with waning immunity in relation to that interval. The first group of vaccinated health-care workers got their second doses last week and we will be inviting others in the coming weeks as they reach their 16-week interval.

Second doses are not being accelerated for health-care workers. We know health-care workers are well protected by using PPE. Even with the new variants, there are no concerns with our infection-control guidance. We are also not accelerating second doses for our clinically extremely vulnerable populations.

Recent VCH data shows that:

Medical staff have been very well protected even before vaccination; The vaccination program has been highly effective in protecting health-care workers in the third wave; and Regardless of the proportion of transmission that is airborne, our protective measures in VCH have worked very well to protect our workforce.

Medical Staff Q&A were generated during the April 21 medical staff forum.

See VCH Medical Staff Intranet and Slack for previous medical staff forum recordings, transcripts and Q&A.

Join us for the next oneVCH COVID-19 town hall on April 29

You are invited to participate in a virtual town hall about COVID-19 vaccination on Thursday, April 29, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.

To join the virtual town hall, please click on the link below:

VANCOUVER COASTAL HEALTH COVID-19 TOWN HALL UPDATE- APRIL 29, 2021 11:00 AM WEBCAST

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) update: N95 masks

Last year, the Ministry of Health directed all health authorities, long-term care facilities and assisted-living facilities to collect used N95 respirators (provided they were not soiled or damaged) for reprocessing. This was a contingency plan in case global supply chains were significantly affected due to the pandemic.

We are pleased to report that the Ministry of Health has now announced that the reprocessing of N95 respirators can be discontinued, effective immediately, as the supply chain has stabilized and shipments of respirators (1870+ model) have begun to arrive from the new 3M plant in Ontario.

Thank you to our amazing Logistics and Medical Device Reprocessing Department teams that led this important work as well as our incredible Quality and Patient Safety, Infection Prevention and Control, and People Safety teams for their support.

A portion of the reprocessed N95s will be retained in central storage at the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) warehouse for now.

Please note that there is a large stock of clinically acceptable N95 respirators available at PHSA in addition to the restocking of the 3M 1870+ respirators/masks, including the 8210, 1860, 1860s and other alternative N95 models.

Use of the N95 must continue to follow the guidance from Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) and the BC Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. Guidance on this can be found on the IPAC website:

PPE Recommendations (for health-care personnel participating in patient care) - Acute PPE Recommendations (for health-care personnel participating in patient care) - Community

Please remember to continue to only wear an N95 respirator of the same model you were fitted to; they are not interchangeable. Check your fit test status here. If your fit test certification has expired, please connect with your Departmental Fit Tester or refer to the People Safety Respiratory Protection page for more options.

Ministry of Health announces new order to limit non-essential travel

On Friday, April 23, 2021, the Province of BC announced a new order to limit non-essential travel within B.C. In their joint statement on Friday, Dr. Bonnie Henry, Provincial Health Officer, and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, stated:

"Under the Emergency Program Act, non-essential travel is prohibited between three regional zones in the province, using health authority boundaries. These zones are the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley (Vancouver Coastal and ), (Island Health) and the Interior and North (Interior and ).

"The message remains the same – by staying in our local communities, we will prevent the spread of this virus and move forward together to a time when it is behind us."

To learn more about these measures, visit the Ministry of Health's website.

KUDOS Jack Crompton, mayor of Whistler, thanks VCH leadership and staff

"Thank you to the Province of , Ministry of Health and the Provincial Health Office. Dr. Penny Ballem, Dr. Bonnie Henry and Minister Adrian Dix saw the reality of our situation and responded quickly. We are grateful for your continued leadership.

"Thank you to . The leadership of Dr. Patty Daly, Sean Parr and Dr. John Harding was effective and empowering. VCH’s on-the-ground team got stuck in quickly, and many of you spent a week away from family caring for our town. Thank you to: Colleen Moberg, Caprii Doucet, Kristine Good, Randi Greer, Lee- Anne Chipapen, Liz Lee and Kate O’Connor."

Read the full story here.

BC COVID-19 SPEAK Survey on population experience Action & Knowledge: Your story, our future – spring 2021

Last year, almost 400,000 British Columbians participated in the BC COVID-19 SPEAK: Your story, our future public health survey from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control & Prevention (BCCDC). Responses provided valuable information about how British Columbians experienced the first wave of the pandemic.

The BCCDC is now launching BC COVID-19 SPEAK Round 2 and is again asking for your participation. The survey will address four key areas:

Life during the pandemic: How your behaviours and experiences have changed over the course of the pandemic Vaccines: What barriers exist to accessing vaccines Innovation and adaptation: How have things changed around you and how have these changes impacted you? Recovery: What supports are needed to help you through our recovery from the pandemic?

The survey is currently open to all British Columbia residents aged 18 years and older until the May 9, 2021. Take the survey here.

UPDATE ON NEW AND EXISTING COVID-19 CASES (as of April 26, 2021)

From April 23 to 24, there were 881 new cases; from April 24 to 25, we had 847 new cases; and in the last 24 hours, we had a further 763 new cases for a total of 126,249 cases in B.C. Active cases: 8,199 Vancouver Coastal Health: 466 new cases Fraser: 1,632 new cases : 206 new cases Island Health: 82 new cases Northern Health: 104 new cases People who normally reside outside of Canada: 1 484 hospitalized 158 currently admitted to ICU 116,241 people have recovered 17 new deaths for a total of 1,571 confirmed deaths. To date, 1,635,372 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca/COVISHIELD COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in B.C., 89,035 of which are second doses.

Click here to see more updates on the BC COVID-19 Dashboard

COVID-19 DATA

COVID-19 data, including for long-term care, assisted living and independent living sites, is available on the B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) website, including outbreak and case information.

Click here to go to the BCCDC site →

KEY LINKS

Text Alerts: Physician sign up keyword: COVID19

Text Alerts: Staff sign up keyword: ALERT

Staff supports during COVID-19

Medical staff resources during COVID-19

TOOLS AND RESOURCES

BC COVID-19 Symptom Self-Assessment Tool Wellness Together Canada: Mental Health and Substance Use Support COVID-19 Multilingual Resources Coping with COVID: Additional Employee Wellness/EFAP services VCH Virtual Health website Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) website: Staff resources on how to assess, test and treat patients and protect patients and staff. Infection Prevention and Control Policy: Ministry of Health VCH Regional Pandemic Outbreak Response Plan: VCH Communicable Disease Control website VCH Intranet: COVID-19 updates

REGIONAL AND LOCAL EOC ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES

COVID-19 VCH-PHC Regional EOC COVID-19 Vancouver Acute EOC COVID-19 Vancouver Community EOC COVID-19 Coastal EOC COVID-19 Richmond EOC COVID-19 Providence Health Care (PHC) EOC

COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS?

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REMINDER ABOUT MEDIA

If you receive a media inquiry, please contact our Public Affairs team immediately for support. Our media line is 604-202-2012 or email [email protected].

The bulletins are distributed on Mondays and Thursdays. Past bulletins are available on the COVID-19 section of our VCH staff intranet.

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