Dr. Henry and Adrian Dix say, overdose crisis is as important as the COVID-19 pandemic; opioids contributed to record fatalities in 2020

British Columbia's top doctor and health minister say the overdose crisis is as important as the COVID-19 pandemic the province has been dealing with for over a year.

Dr. Bonnie Henry and Adrian Dix say there's no vaccine to help end the deaths associated with toxic opioids that contributed to a record 1,713 fatalities in 2020.

They say in a joint statement that another 1,278 people have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began last year.

Nine more deaths have been recorded in the province and 449 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 72,305 cases.

Dr. Henry and Dix say nearly 160,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the province, and 15,684 of them were second doses.

B.C. has asked the federal government to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use in order to save the lives of those who may fear being criminalized instead of getting treatment, putting them at risk of a fatal overdose.