COVID-19 Vaccination for Medical Staff

Island Health roll-out to groups/individuals is aligned with the direction of the Province.

Vaccine Roll-out Toolkit | Doctors of BC
New: December 18, 2020

Our Phase 4 immunizations are being booked for:

Timeline: May to June 2021

People aged 59 to 18, in five year increments:

• 59 to 55 (Dose 1 May)
• 54 to 50 (Dose 1 May)
• 49 to 45 (Dose 1 May)
• 44 to 40 (Dose 1 May/June)
• 39 to 35 (Dose 1 May/June)
• 34 to 30 (Dose 1 June)
• 29 to 25 (Dose 1 June)
• 24 to 18 (Dose 1 June)

Island Health has created staff lists and using privileging databases based on where people are working. Those lists will fully ensure the right people are booked at the right time based on vaccine supply. We are confident we can provide vaccinations in a fair, orderly and expeditious way as vaccine supply increases.

No action is required from you and you will be contacted directly aligned to the provincial phased priority plan.

Contact information is obtained from the privileging database for preferred phone numbers. If you have recently changed your phone number or believe the phone number contained within the privileging database may be out of date, please update your information by completing the COVID-19 Vaccine Contact Information Update form. 

If you are part of the current priority phase and have not been contacted please reach out to your Department/Division Head or MedStaffEngagement@viha.ca. 

What You Need To Know:

• B.C.’s COVID-19 immunization plan calls for a 8 weeks - 16 weeks interval between first and second doses of vaccine.
• Island Health’s call centre is calling all staff and medical staff who were immunized on or before February 21 to book their second dose appointments in May.
• Anyone immunized after February 21 will be due for their second doses starting in June.
• You must be registered in the provincial booking system in order to make your second dose appointment. 

If You Were Vaccinated On or Before Feb. 21:

• Island Health’s call centre agents are calling all staff and medical staff who were vaccinated prior to February 21.
• If you do not receive a call to make an appointment by Wednesday, May 19th, please call Island Health’s call centre at 1-844-439-1919 and press 1.

If You Were Vaccinated After Feb. 21:

• If you were booked by Island Health’s call centre, and vaccinated after February 21, your second dose will be due in June or July.
• You must register with the provincial registration system in order to book your second dose appointment.
• Please register now by going to www.getvaccinated.gov.bc.ca or calling 1-833-838-2323.
• Registration takes approximately two minutes.
• To register you will need to provide:
  • First and last name
  • Date of birth
  • Postal Code
  • Personal Health Number
  • An email address that is checked regularly or a phone number that can receive text messages
• You do not need to input the date that you received your first dose. The provincial and Island Health information systems are connected and will automatically register the date of your first dose.
• After you register you may receive a message indicating that you can book your first dose appointment.
• Even if your second dose isn’t due until July it is important that you register now so that you are notified as soon as you can make a second dose appointment.

If You Have Not Yet Been Vaccinated Yet:

• It's definitely not too late to make an appointment for your first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. If you haven’t yet been vaccinated, we strongly encourage you to register in the provincial booking system for an appointment.  
• Please visit www.getvaccinated.gov.bc.ca or call 1-833-838-2323 to register.
• Questions? Please speak with your manager or email: Pandemic@viha.ca

The interval between the first and second dose of COVID-19 vaccine is currently 8 - 16 weeks.  This is supported by Canada’s national Advisory Committee on Immunizations (NACI). "NACI recommends that in the context of limited COVID-19 vaccine supply, jurisdictions should maximize the number of individuals benefiting from the first dose of vaccine by extending the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine up to four months after the first."  You can read the NACI recommendation here.

Increased interval between dose 1 and 2 Information:

Second-dose deferral to extend COVID-19 vaccine coverage: Review of the Evidence
New: January 28, 2021

BCCDC: Public health statement on deferral of second dose of COVID-19 vaccine in BC

BCCDC: Second Dose Deferral to Extend COVID-19

The New England Journal of Medicine: Safety and Efficacy of the BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine

The Lancet: Early rate reductions of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 in BNT162b2 vaccine recipients

The Lancet: Single-dose administration and the influence of the timing of the booster dose on immunogenicity and efficacy of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222) vaccine: a pooled analysis of four randomised trials

Data from Scotland: Effectiveness of first dose of COVID-19 vaccines against hospital admissions in Scotland: national prospective cohort study of 5.4 million people

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