One in 5 New Westminster youth still not fully vaccinated

Those five teens you see heading off to New Westminster Secondary School? Chances are, one of them isn't fully vaccinated.

New Westminster's vaccination rates are slowly climbing, but 22% of 12- to 17-year-olds in the city still haven't received their second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. As of Sept. 28, 78% of people in that age group were fully vaccinated, up from 76% the week before, according to the latest B.C. Centre for Disease Control data. (Eighty-eight per cent have had one dose, up from 86% the week before.)

The city's overall vaccine-eligible population (aged 12+) now has a first-dose vaccination rate of 91% and a two-dose vaccination rate of 85%, up from 90% and 84%, respectively, last week.

Those percentages keep New Westminster among the leaders in B.C. Among Fraser Health municipalities (the territory that stretches from Burnaby to Boston Bar), New Westminster is tied with Burnaby for the second-highest percentage of fully vaccinated residents. The two neighbours sit behind only Delta, with an 87% fully vaccinated population.

All told, just 10 local health areas in B.C. (out of the 87 in the province) have higher two-dose vaccination rates than New Westminster. Most of those local health areas are in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, where the Central Coast leads the way at 92%, followed by Vancouver Northeast and Vancouver Midtown at 89%. The Saanich Peninsula, in the Island Health region, also has an 89% second-dose vaccination rate.

New Westminster's first-dose vaccination rates are now higher amongst younger adults than older ones; 92% of residents aged 18 to 49 have received at least one dose, compared to 90% of those 50+. For second doses, however, older adults still lead, with 87% fully vaccinated compared to 84% in the younger group.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is continuing to stress the importance of vaccination in the midst of B.C.'s fourth wave – particularly with case numbers rising amongst school-aged children who are too young to be vaccinated.

“The most important thing we can do to protect our schools until we have vaccination for all school-age children – and we’re preparing for that as soon as we can – is to make sure that all the adults and the older children in those settings are protected," she said at a Sept. 28 media briefing.

Follow Julie MacLellan on Twitter @juliemaclellan.
Email Julie, [email protected].