The new figures represent an increase of three COVID-19 patients admitted in the last 24 hours and three fewer ICU patients. Overall hospitalizations, which usually lag behind peaks and reductions in new cases, are up 7% from last Wednesday, when 258 people were treated for the disease, and down about 47% from the previous month, when they were hospitalized. 523 people. The number of patients in the intensive care unit decreased by about 12 percent from 49 a week ago and by 48 percent from a month ago, when 83 people were admitted to the ICU. As of Wednesday, 6.9 percent of COVID-19 tests in BC are positive, according to the county COVID-19 control panel. The number was over 20 percent though most of January, but began to decline in February, along with hospitalization. Test positivity hit a record low earlier this month at 5.6 percent, but is slowly returning to March 21st. The provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said anything above a five percent test positive is an indicator of a more worrying level of transmission. The provincial death toll from COVID-19 is now 2,996 lives lost from the 356,252 confirmed cases to date. There are seven active cases in assisted living, long-term and acute care facilities, including one outbreak at Surrey Memorial Hospital. As of Wednesday, 90.8 percent of those over five in BC had received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 87.3 percent had received a second dose. These numbers remained constant for several days. From March 22 to March 28, those who were not fully vaccinated accounted for 17.7 percent of cases and from March 15 to March 28, 20.4 percent of hospitalizations, according to the province. A total of 2.6 million people have been shot in the third.
Possible 4th dose of COVID-19 vaccine
Although less than 60 percent of eligible adults have received the booster dose of COVID-19 so far, a fourth dose is now being investigated to help weaken immunity. The National Immunization Advisory Board of Canada recommends a fourth vaccine for moderate to severely immunocompromised individuals six months after their third dose. In the US, regulators approved a fourth dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for Americans 50 years and older earlier this week. COVID-19 mRNA vaccines were tested as a two-shot regimen. That said, three doses have been shown to offer stronger protection against serious diseases. For anyone at high risk of developing severe COVID – including the elderly and immunocompromised – a fourth shot is probably a “very good idea” and provides significant extra protection, according to virologist Angela Rasmussen. “However, for many people who do not fit into these categories, it is difficult to say that the fourth shot will offer much benefit, especially in the long run, compared to a third shot,” said Rasmussen, a researcher at the University. of the Saskatchewan Vaccine and Infectious Diseases Agency.
