B.C. to hire health-care workers, ramp up flu vaccines to prevent strain on hospitals during influenza season

Plan seeks to minimize impact of B.C.’s influenza season and boost capacity to track COVID-19
B.C. has released details of how it plans to manage COVID-19 and influenza cases in the fall and winter months and prevent a combination of the two from straining the province’s health-care system.
A key part of the strategy, announced on Wednesday by Premier John Horgan, Health Minister Adrian Dix and Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, involves reducing the usual demand for hospital beds by reducing seasonal flu cases, while boosting hospital surge capacity if there is a sudden influx of patients.
The plan will inject $1.6 billion into the health-care system and involve the strategic hiring and training of 7,000 health-care workers. It aims to avoid a scenario where surgeries must be widely delayed, as the province did in the spring as part of its emergency response to the pandemic.
It will also be launching a major vaccination campaign against influenza, with the goal of vaccinating nearly two million people, compared to the yearly average of around 1.4 million. ”Our pandemic plan has been working,’’ said Horgan. “We need to accelerate. We need to up our game.’’
Vaccination on a scale ‘not yet seen’
Henry said B.C.’s vaccination strategy will be on a scale “not yet seen” and encouraged everyone in the province over the age of six months to get vaccinated against influenza.
She said the province has been tracking COVID-19 cases in the southern hemisphere, which is just coming out of its influenza season. Influenza season in the northern hemisphere usually starts in October and November, peaking in December and January. “The good news is that their immunization rates were very high. This triggered us to buy more vaccine here,” she said, adding that measures like physical distancing, masks, and handwashing also protect against influenza.
The plan also focuses on boosting the capacity to conduct contact tracing and COVID-19 testing, with the goal of being able to test 20,000 people per day, compared to the current capacity of around 8,000 to 10,000 tests. Source: cbc.ca