B.C. reports 521 COVID-19 cases and 8 deaths

The British Columbia government is preparing to vaccinate youth aged 12 to 17 and will roll out its plan shortly.

Premier John Horgan is joining Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry for the COVID-19 news conference on Thursday.

A joint statement Wednesday says young people can register to receive their vaccine online and details on how they will be vaccinated will come on Thursday.

The statement also says anyone who was immunized before April 15, prior to the online system launching, will need to register because while the system has their vaccine information, it may not have contact details.

B.C. recorded eight more deaths for a total of 1,658 fatalities since the pandemic began.

There were 521 new cases, with 340 people in hospital, 118 of whom are in intensive care.