A significant disparity in COVID-19 vaccination levels continues to exist throughout the Central Okanagan.
The highest rate, at 80% of all adults, is in Kelowna’s Okanagan Mission neighborhood, which is considered to be all neighborhoods south of Mission Creek.
The lowest rate, at 69%, is in Rutland. All other areas of the Central Okanagan are below, by a few percentage points, the provincial adult vaccination rate of 80.9% that was announced Monday.
Vernon’s rate is 74% and Penticton’s rate is 78%.
Most areas of the BC Southern Interior have lower vaccination rates than the provincial average. And the region served by Interior Health continues to experience a disproportionately higher number of new COVID-19 cases.
Between last Friday and Monday, 156 new cases were confirmed province-wide, the BC Center for Disease Control says.
Of the new cases, 37% were in the IH region. However, the area accounts for just 15% of BC’s total population.
Since Friday, there have been twice as many new cases of COVID-19 in Interior Health as in Vancouver Coastal Health, which has a quarter-million more people than the IH region.
Across the province, 56.6% of all adults have received the necessary two shots of vaccine.
Of the 653 active cases of COVID-19 in BC, almost 30% are in the Interior Health region.
