Close X
Friday, January 10, 2025
ADVT 
National

B.C. urges flu vaccines for children as cases rise

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 05 Dec, 2022 03:27 PM
  • B.C. urges flu vaccines for children as cases rise

VANCOUVER - The British Columbia government will be using its provincial health registry to contact parents in an attempt to increase flu vaccine rates for children.

While the province is on track for a record number of people getting their flu shot this year, Dr. Penny Ballem, with BC Vaccine Operations, says only 20 per cent of children under five have been vaccinated.

Ballem says they'll be sending texts and emails to families of about 150,000 children under five inviting them to make appointments to get vaccinated.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says after two years of low rates of flu, mostly due to travel restrictions, the province is seeing a "dramatic increase" in illness and it arrived sooner than normal.

Henry says there is still time for people to get a flu vaccine to protect themselves and their children, especially as the holiday season approaches.

Health Minister Adrian Dix says visits to provincial emergency rooms had been averaging 6,700 per day, but that is now peaking up to 6,900 patients daily, with extra pressure on B.C. Children's and Fraser Health hospitals.

MORE National ARTICLES

World food crisis prompts rise in child marriages

World food crisis prompts rise in child marriages
Plan International Canada says it has seen a worrying increase in the number of teenage girls in the developing world being forced into marriage because their families cannot afford to feed them. The agency says 12 million girls under the age of 18 become child brides each year, forcing them to abandon school while putting their health at risk through early pregnancies.

World food crisis prompts rise in child marriages

Coroner lists 16 suspected heat deaths in B.C.

Coroner lists 16 suspected heat deaths in B.C.
A report from the service on deaths says the fatalities happened between July 26 and Aug. 3, although the numbers are considered preliminary until investigations into each case conclude. The report shows all but two of the deaths happened in the Interior or Fraser health regions and involved victims aged 40 to over 90, with six in their 70s.

Coroner lists 16 suspected heat deaths in B.C.

West Fraser cuts mill shifts, 147 jobs in B.C.

West Fraser cuts mill shifts, 147 jobs in B.C.
The job cuts, expected to take place over the fourth quarter, come as the company permanently cuts about 170 million board feet of combined production at its Fraser Lake and Williams Lake sawmills and about 85 million square feet of plywood production at its Quesnel operation.

West Fraser cuts mill shifts, 147 jobs in B.C.

B.C. fund cuts plastic pollution: minister

B.C. fund cuts plastic pollution: minister
Environment Minister George Heyman says the province is a North American leader in plastic recycling and the government's CleanBC Plastic Action Fund is looking for more innovations to cut plastic pollution.

B.C. fund cuts plastic pollution: minister

Stable weather aids B.C. wildfire battle

Stable weather aids B.C. wildfire battle
The BC Wildfire Service says the the wildfire covers 68 square kilometres southwest of Penticton, with most of the recent growth due to planned ignitions needed to create the control lines. An update from the wildfire service says newly created control lines are "holding well."

Stable weather aids B.C. wildfire battle

30 year old taxi passenger dies in Guildford shooting, taxi driver in hospital

30 year old taxi passenger dies in Guildford shooting, taxi driver in hospital
Surrey RCMP received the report of shots fired at a taxi in a parking lot in the 14800 block of 108 Avenue. Police attended the scene and found both occupants of the vehicle shot. The passenger, a 30-year-old male died, and the driver of the taxi was transported to hospital with serious injuries. 

30 year old taxi passenger dies in Guildford shooting, taxi driver in hospital