Officially, it could take until July for all B.C. adults to be able to get vaccinated. But with the vaccine plan moving faster than expected in certain areas, some towns in the Skeena are currently booking appointments for anyone above age 18.
“[Northern Health] is now planning whole community 18+ clinics for several communities,” reads a notice on the health authority’s Facebook page.
These towns include Hazelton, Houston and Stewart. To book your appointment in these three communities, call 1-866-481-2175 any day between 7 am to 7 pm PST. For more information about each community visit this website.
Some commenters are wondering how come the rules vary from town to town. “Why are you not opening up in Smithers as well when all the communities surrounding it are opening?” one person asked on the Northern Health page.
“The ‘whole community’ approach to vaccinating residents all at once is due to population size, remoteness, logistics, and/or accessibility–and these can be expanded to address outbreaks, clusters or high population incidence rates,” a Northern Health spokesperson replied. “Smithers is not on this list. Please note that once other communities are vaccinated, it frees up vaccines for others like Smithers. Please be patient.”
To learn more about booking vaccinations in other Skeena communities, or Haida Gwaii, call 1-844-255-7555 between 7am and 7pm daily.
To find out more in Prince Rupert, call 250-622-6380.
The Northern Health vaccination schedule is here.