Provincial health officer asking all people associated with school kids to get vaccinated for school year

B-C’s top doctor is encouraging everyone connected with children under 12 to get their COVID-19 vaccinations as the new school year begins next week.   

Dr. Bonnie Henry says about 600-thousand younger children are not eligible for vaccination in the province and rising cases in the United States are directly linked to low immunization rates in the broader community.  

She says overall COVID-19 cases are expected to go up and breakthrough infections among the elderly, especially in long-term care facilities, are due to unvaccinated people bringing the illness into those high-risk settings. 

The province says 76.5 per cent of eligible residents are fully vaccinated and about 84 per cent have received one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.