All British Columbians will be eligible for H1N1 flu shots starting Friday.”I want to encourage every British Columbian who has not yet been vaccinated to now go out and get their shot as soon as possible,” Dr. Perry Kendall, the provincial health officer, said in a statement Thursday afternoon.

“Unless we get more people immunized, there is still potential for B.C. to see as many hospitalizations and deaths in the coming weeks as we have seen to date.”The province expected to receive an additional 258,000 doses of vaccine on Thursday and another 640,000 doses late next week, raising the total already delivered to B.C. to 1.16 million, Kendall said.

“While we do not yet have enough vaccine to administer to everyone who is now eligible, given that our clinics are operating at less than full capacity, it is only fair to open it up to the rest of the population so that any and all British Columbians who want to be vaccinated can now do so,” he said.

“This may mean clinics run out of vaccine and are forced to close until additional supplies are obtained, but it is preferable to have vaccine in people’s arms, rather than sitting in fridges.”So far, at least 30 people in B.C. have died from the virus.