DAWSON CREEK -- Cases in Northeast B.C. continue to climb and health officials are considering implementing more COVID-19 restrictions or booster vaccine doses.
"We are actively working with (our) Northern Health colleagues to determine what additional measures we need to break the chains of transmission across many communities for everyone,” said Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C. Provincial Health Officer.
The province is also giving consideration to booster shots for vulnerable communities.
Northern Health hospitals are over capacity and an increasing number of patients are being transferred to other parts of the province for treatment.
On the Friday before Thanksgiving long-weekend, 14 patients were flown out, and by Monday an additional 10 patients were transferred.
“So far 55 patients have been transferred to hospitals in other health authorities,” said Minister of Health, Adrian Dix.
He says, of those patients, 43 had COVID-19 and the majority were not fully vaccinated.
This weekend the province added two planes to their health fleet to accommodate the overflow of people requiring critical care.
MLA for Peace River South Mike Bernier says he has received numerous calls from doctors across B.C. who are begging him to get local residents vaccinated because the overflow of patients is putting more pressure on other healthcare systems.
“A lot of people are saying, 'it won’t happen to me,' or 'it’s not going to happen to my loved one,' or my friend. We’ve had 10 people medevacked out in just the last week and a half from our region in critical care,” said Bernier.
“What makes me nervous is that means there’s people right now walking around our community who are unvaccinated who in two weeks from now statistically, will be medevacked out in critical care.”
In Tuesday’s press conference, the Minister of Health begged people in Northeast B.C. to get their shot.
