Interior Health says nearly 300 people walked in without an appointment in Kamloops to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, as part of “walk-in Wednesday.”
It says more than 40 per cent of those doses administered at the Tournament Capital Centre were first doses.
Including those who had an appointment to get vaccinated, more than 500 vaccine doses were given out yesterday at the TCC and IH says more than 30 per cent were first doses.
The province-wide campaign allowed people to go to any mass vaccine clinic without an appointment to receive a first dose, or a second dose if it had been more than 49 days since receiving their first. Health officials were hoping this would mean 20,000 additional doses being given out.
Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix will be holding a news conference at noon to talk about province-wide results of “walk-in Wednesday.”
In Kamloops, the mass vaccine clinic at the TCC was set up with a live band and therapy dogs, and the first 100 people who showed up to be vaccinated were given coupons for free smoothies.
As of Wednesday, 81.5 per cent of people aged 12 and older in B.C. had received a first vaccine dose, and 67.9 per cent were fully vaccinated.
In the Kamloops local health area, according to the BC Centre for Disease Control, 78 per cent of residents 12 and older had received a first vaccine dose as of August 2. Broken down further, that figure is 83 per cent for Kamloops South, 75 per cent for Kamloops North, and 72 per cent for the Lower Thompson – which includes Chase, Sun Peaks, Barriere, Little Fort, Tobiano, Savona, Logan Lake and other rural communities in between.
