PROVINCIAL Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix on Thursday announced 587 new COVID-19 cases, including one epi-linked case, for a total of 137,810 cases in British Columbia.

There have been five new COVID-19-related deaths, for a total of 1,632 deaths in the province.

There are 5,691 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. A further 130,310 people who tested positive have recovered.

Of the active cases, 413 individuals are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 141 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.

There have been 126 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 365 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 21 in the Island Health region, 60 in the Interior Health region, 15 in the Northern Health region and no new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

Henry and Dix said: “2,335,513 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in B.C., 119,691 of which are second doses.

“While all of our vaccines are safe and effective, there have been a small number of rare but serious adverse events following immunization. We have had a second case of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia following an AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination. The patient is a male in his 40s. He is in stable condition and receiving care and treatment in the Fraser Health region.

“If you have had a vaccine – any vaccine – in the last four to 28 days and are feeling unwell, call 811 or contact your health-care provider so you can get assessed as quickly as possible.

“Today, anyone 30 and older can book their vaccine. On Friday at 7 p.m. (Pacific time), booking invitations will begin for people who are registered and are born in 1996 or earlier (25 and up). On Saturday at 7 p.m., booking invitations will begin for people who are registered and are born in 2001 or earlier (20 and up) and on Sunday at 7 p.m., booking invitations will begin for people who are registered and are born in 2003 or earlier (18 and up).

“Our program is built around a risk-based approach, and we have seen big benefits from vaccination in our highest-risk populations.

“We are working hard to ensure everyone has their first dose as quickly as possible, but there is still lots of virus circulating in our communities. So until we’re all protected and our community transmission slows, we need to continue with our COVID-19 safety basics. Let’s get registered, get vaccinated, wash our hands, wear our masks and stay small and local.”