About 15,000 COVID-19 shots booked on Day 1 in B.C., more than half in Fraser Health

British Columbians eligible to make a COVID-19 vaccination appointment are being urged to keep trying if they failed to get through Monday on phone lines overwhelmed by calls.

The Health Ministry confirms just under 15,000 appointments were booked on the first day residents over the age of 90 or Indigenous elders over 65 could make appointments.

Only Fraser Health offered an online option for booking appointments and 8,722 were made there, while the Interior and Vancouver Island health authorities each recorded just under 2,500 bookings and residents in the north made just over 1,000.

The ministry says only 369 bookings were made in Vancouver Coastal, and officials pledged to work with that health authority to get those bookings "back on track."

About 80,000 B.C. residents are eligible for appointments this week but many have already been vaccinated at their care facilities.

The ministry says there is "more than enough time" to add the remaining eligible seniors and elders to the booking list.