The province has started to send invitations to book COVID-19 vaccine appointments to registered residents 18 years old and up. A series of four drop-in clinics will also open in hard-hit Surrey this week, offering one-thousand shots each day to Surrey residents 18 and up. The province says the first thousand people to line up will be given a wrist band and an appointment time on the same day. Health officials are expected to present the latest information about COVID-19 in a briefing this afternoon
arrests on Friday, while an R-C-M-P helicopter and boat were brought in to light up the beach and push people to go home. He says tens of thousands of people flocked to the beach on Saturday and while most left when police told them to after 10 p-m, some did not. Addison says at one point, people threw bottles at officers, though there were no arrests Saturday night.
Surrey will be administering 4,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine over four days next week at community clinics — with measures in place to help prevent the confusion and long waits encountered last time Fraser Health held pop-up clinics. In a statement Sunday, the province announced it will be partnering with Fraser Health and the City of Surrey to offer community-based clinics. The dates and locations are:
Monday, May 17
Bear Creek Park, 13750 88 Ave.
Hours: 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. (or until 1,000 vaccine doses are administered)
Tuesday, May 18:
Bear Creek Park, 13750 88 Ave.
Hours: 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. (or until 1,000 vaccine doses are administered)
Saturday, May 22:
Surrey Sport and Leisure, 16555 Fraser Highway, #100
Hours: 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. (or until 1,000 vaccine doses are administered)
Sunday, May 23:
Surrey Sport and Leisure, 16555 Fraser Highway, #100
Hours: 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. (or until 1,000 vaccine doses are administered)
Addresses will be verified so people who live in Surrey are prioritized, and a first-come-first-served system will be in place to prevent long waits. “The first 1,000 Surrey residents to arrive on each day of the new clinics will receive wristbands from organizers and a same-day appointment,” the statement from the province says.
Two Vancouver city councillors are expressing their accountability concerns with the Vancouver Police, adding the department is lacking acknowledgment after it wrongly detained B.C.’s first Black supreme court justice. On Friday, 81-year-old Selwyn Romilly said he was “humiliated” when the VPD wrongly detained him while he was on his daily walk along the seawall. When officers realized they had the wrong man, they apologized and removed the cuffs. After the incident, Romilly received an apology from the mayor and the VPD. However, city councillors say this incident is just the latest example that is shining a light on the necessary changes needed to break down systemic discrimination in the city. Councillor Pete Fry says Friday’s incident should never have happened and he’s disturbed that current protocols would suggest that the first course of action is to handcuff a person who is not resisting arrest – especially when they’re seniors. Wiebe adds the conversation sparked by the wrongful arrest is especially needed since some Vancouverites may brush off the systemic racism that lives in the city.
Health officials are reporting one-thousand-360 new cases of COVID-19 over the past three days for an average of 453 each day. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says 14 more people have died, pushing the death toll in B-C to one-thousand-648. There are 350 people in hospital with COVID-19, including 132 in intensive care. Henry says more than 55 per cent of eligible people aged 18 and up have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and all remaining adults need to book appointments as soon as possible.
Dozens of people have been evacuated after a fire broke out Friday night at a four-storey apartment building in Surrey’s Fleetwood area. Deputy Fire Chief Mark Griffioen says the fire moved to the roof, which was hard to access, keeping crews busy well into Saturday. There have been no reports of any injuries related to the fire — and no word yet on its cause.
Ariana Grande is a newlywed. A representative for the pop star confirmed that she tied the knot with real estate agent Dalton Gomez in an intimate wedding attended by fewer than 20 people. It was not clear when the wedding took place. The 27-year-old singer and 25-year-old Gomez started dating in January of last year and announced their engagement in December.