Dr. Albert de Villiers, Chief Medical Health Officer, Interior Health
Photo credit: Filed / Interior Health
March 12, 2021 – 2:25 p.m.
Two of the 11 residents infected with COVID-19 in the recent Cottonwoods Care Home outbreak in Kelowna were fully vaccinated, which means they received two doses.
This second dose was given “relatively recently,” said Dr. Albert de Villiers, Chief Physician for Internal Health, at a press conference on March 12th today. Even so, they contracted the virus despite receiving their first dose weeks ago.
“So we said from the start that the vaccine won’t necessarily stop the virus from spreading,” said Dr. de Villiers. “But it will keep you from ending up in the hospital. It will prevent you from facing serious consequences and it will prevent you from dying. ”
The outbreak began in the short-stay part of the facility that people generally live in after they were relocated from Kelowna General Hospital.
READ MORE: Staff buy in the vaccinations at Kelowna’s Cottonwoods Nursing Home that are expected to improve
While Interior Health didn’t pinpoint how it started, some of the short-term residents may not have been vaccinated before moving to Cottonwoods, Dr. de Villiers, arrived.
Seven of the ten infected were not vaccinated, he said.
Tests of all residents showed many cases, often in people with no symptoms.
More cases could occur in the coming weeks, but if people have been vaccinated, symptoms should be mild, he said.
He couldn’t provide a detailed explanation of why only 65 percent of the staff there had been vaccinated other than saying that some may not have been on shift when it was offered, or gone, or were allergic. He didn’t know if employees actually rejected the vaccine.
Health Minister Adrian Dix said yesterday that 90 percent of workers in long-term care facilities across the province have been vaccinated.
Efforts will continue to be made to vaccinate as many Cottonwoods employees and residents as possible, and all new residents entering the facility will be vaccinated prior to their arrival.
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