New COVID-19 data released by the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) has shown that the rate of COVID-19 at UBC is once again declining this week after a brief uptick earlier in June.
The latest update to the BCCDC’s COVID-19 dashboard shows that UBC’s Vancouver campus and its surrounding neighbourhood saw zero new cases of COVID-19 between June 18 and 24, a decrease from the two new cases per capita registered the week before. The total number of active cases at UBC in this timespan was less than ten.
The nearby neighbourhoods of West Point Grey and Dunbar also did not record any new cases per capita in the past week, while Shaughnessy reported just one.
This data shows a continuation of the past month’s trend. Cases remain low, fluctuating by fewer than five new cases each week. COVID-19 is periodically reaching UBC, but this trendline demonstrates that community transmission is not happening often on campus.
Meanwhile, vaccine first dose coverage in UBC residents aged 18+ was 74 per cent as of June 22. This represents just a three per cent increase since last week, down from ten per cent between the previous two weeks. Coverage appears to be trending towards a plateau just below the recommended 80 per cent threshold for herd immunity.
Furthermore, the province has begun releasing vaccine data for the 18–49 age group, revealing that this age group has 73 per cent coverage, while the 50+ age group has 78 per cent coverage.
UBC area data does not include students and staff living outside the UBC Endowment Lands, the BCCDC clarified in the latest data release.
Nonetheless, second dose coverage has increased significantly in the past couple weeks. According to the most recent data release, 27 per cent of British Columbians have received their second dose of an approved COVID-19 vaccine.
At this point in the pandemic, second doses are the focus as the province prepares for the spread of the Delta variant, currently accounting for approximately 11 per cent of COVID-19 cases in the Vancouver Coastal Health region.