B.C. to get 5,800 fewer vaccine doses next week

British Columbia's health minister says the province will adjust its vaccination plans in light of the news that Pfizer-BioNTech will not send any doses to Canada next week.

Adrian Dix says the province had expected to receive about 5,800 Pfizer-BioNTech doses, a relatively small amount compared with the roughly 25,000 it's supposed to receive the week after.

But he says the 5,800 doses are still "very significant" to B.C. and any time the province gets news it will receive less vaccine, it is "obviously disappointing."

Dix says the province will have to devote more of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine it has in stock to completing immunizations of long-term care homes and to beginning to administer second doses.

Information about the supply and delivery of #COVID19 vaccines in #BC is available at the @CDCofBC
COVID-19 Dashboard: https://t.co/lcOXasD3tw

— Adrian Dix (@adriandix) January 19, 2021

He says second vaccinations are crucial to the success of the program and the province remains committed to giving that shot 35 days after the first.

The federal government announced today that Canada's shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be cut by nearly one-fifth this week and then go down to zero next week.

Pfizer told Canada the shipments would be affected because the production facility in Belgium is being upgraded to produce more doses overall.

Dix says he's "very confident" in the federal government's efforts to get more vaccines to the provinces.