B.C. backtracks on 99% vaccination claim for adults under 30 in Vancouver Coastal Health

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control has clarified figures on the percentage of people who have been vaccinated following questions by CBC News about their accuracy. 

On Sept. 23, their dashboard showed 99 per cent of people between 18 and 29 in Vancouver Coastal Health had been given a first vaccine dose, a number not reached by any age demographic in any major health regions anywhere in Canada and the United States.

When asked about the accuracy of the graphic, the BCCDC deferred questions to the Ministry of Health which replied to CBC in an email saying "the Ministry of Health confirms this is accurate."

The next day, after the number of people receiving a vaccine dose reached 100 per cent, the BCCDC added a note to the graphic explaining that out-of-town university students who got a shot in the Vancouver Coastal Health region artificially increased the percentage. 

Federal government data showed 83.1 per cent of people 18 to 29 across the entire province had received at least one vaccine dose by Sept. 18, with provincial data consistently showing higher vaccination rates in Metro Vancouver and Greater Victoria than the rest of the province. 

That 99 per cent figure was given by a Vancouver Coastal Health medical officer at the University of British Columbia's board of governors meeting on Sept. 21, as part of a series of presentations to the board about the pandemic.

UBC mathematician Daniel Coombs, who has helped the province with its modelling of the pandemic, also presented at the meeting and said the number immediately sounded suspect.