531 new COVID-19 cases including 51 cases of variants of concern reported in B.C.

BC is reporting 531 new cases of COVID-19 and one additional death.

Health officials say there are 4,861active cases in the province.

244 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, including 66 in intensive care.

There are 51 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 variants of concern, for a total of 627 cases.

BC Health Minister Adrian Dix says vast improvements have been made in the province's vaccine roll out since a rough start on Monday, which means they can now accelerate the pace.

Health authorities first started booking appointments for people 90 years and older as well as for Indigenous people from age 65 and up, but the phone lines were jammed.

Dix says that the system has caught up to the point where as of noon tomorrow, health authorities will start to schedule vaccine appointments for the next age group, those 85 and up.

Dix says roughly 37 thousand people aged 90 and older have been able to make vaccination appointments as of 4 pm today.