“I'm very much looking forward to 2021,” Premier John Horgan said. “I think British Columbia stands very well positioned to take off as we put the pandemic behind us in the months ahead.”

In his first public appearance of the new year, Horgan spoke to the media Thursday about leaving 2020 in the past and working on the challenges of 2021.

“We have a lot more work to do and cabinet has been focused on that over the past two days ... with full cabinet discussions on a range of issues with respect to economic recovery, addressing the pandemic and of course looking forward to the challenges and hopes and aspirations of British Columbians beyond 2021 and into the next four years,” Horgan said.

Horgan echoed Health Minister Adrian Dix's comments from Wednesday around providing more details next week about ramping up B.C.'s COVID-19 vaccination strategy through the spring.

“As a rule of thumb, our primary focus has been and will be in the short term, making sure that the most vulnerable in our society are at the front of the queue and that has been working effectively to this point in time,” said Horgan.

“We're hopeful that in the not so distant future, all long-term care residents and staff will be vaccinated, which will stop the outbreaks and stop the spread of the virus in those locations.”

Horgan said he spoke with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canada's other premiers last week to discuss the rollout of vaccines and the spike in COVID-19 cases in Ontario and Quebec.

“We have seen a decline in cases here in B.C. over the past number of weeks and I want to thank British Columbians for their patience and their resolve to make sure that we can continue to do our level best to battle this virus in our own way in our own communities.”

Minister Dix and Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry will be holding a COVID-19 press conference at 3 p.m. Thursday.