Northern Health was honoured by Dr. Bonnie Henry's visit to Prince George on June 22, and grateful for her support for NH staff and physicians who have worked so hard in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
December 21, 2021 marked one year since the COVID-19 vaccine first arrived in the Northern Health region. Since then, we’ve reached vaccine milestones in all our communities and provided many unique vaccine clinic opportunities. As well, we’ve seen countless hours of hard work by our staff, physicians, volunteers, stakeholders, and community members. Below are some of our milestones throughout the year!
Occupational Health Nurse & Safety Advisor, Siyanna Bennett opens the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine to arrive in Northern Health on December 21, 2020.The first person to receive the vaccine in the Northern Health region was Biserka Becker, a care aide at Jubilee Lodge in Prince George, who got her shot on December 22, 2020. Biserka was vaccinated along with a group of health care workers from the University Hospital of Northern BC and the nearby Jubilee Lodge long-term care facility.On December 22, 2020, the first Northern long-term care residents received their vaccines. The location was Jubilee Lodge in Prince George, and the vaccines were administered by public health resource nurses Jamie Hill, Teresa MacDonald, and Kim Spencer.On February 17, Helicopters Without Borders took a Northern Health nursing team (Cindy Cockle, Marla Hamblin, Brennan McKone, and Connie Hardy) to Fort Babine to run a vaccine clinic.In March 2020, the combined efforts of many Northern Health staff helped create and successfully launch the Northern Health COVID-19 Online Clinic & Information Line in only two days. This support service has been crucial in helping Northerners during the COVID-19 pandemic.One of the three Northern Health “vax vans” that provided a mobile vaccine clinic service to many communities in the North.The Prince George team poses for a group photo next to the drive-thru clinic held at the Civic Centre on July 8. Drive-thru clinics were one of the many ways Northerners could choose to get vaccinated.Early December 2021 marked over 82% of the Northern BC population aged 12 and over being immunized with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The list below shows COVID-19 immunizations in the Northern Health region as of December 10, 2021:
Northeast
1st dose: 43,275
2nd dose: 38,549
Booster/3rd dose: 4,641
Northern Interior
1st dose: 112,589
2nd dose: 104,287
Booster/3rd dose: 16,958
Northwest
1st dose: 60,242
2nd dose: 55,279
Booster/3rd dose: 11,241
These numbers bring us to a total 447,061 COVID-19 vaccine doses given in Northern Health – almost half a million!
These successes are due to the tireless efforts of Northern Health staff and vaccine planning teams, the First Nations Health Authority, our community partners and stakeholders, and Northern BC residents who recognize the importance of protecting themselves, their families and their communities, so that we can get through this pandemic.
Thank you to everyone who has helped us achieve these (and many more) milestones!
Incredible achievements and work well done!!! I was fortunate to witness a few accounts of how incredibly efficient, knowledgeable and hardworking the immunization teams are! Jamie and her team also demonstrated such patience, kindness and compassion while at Jubilee Lodge! Congratulations Teams!!!
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