British Columbia's top doctor is advising people with chronic health conditions to contact their family doctor to determine if they should get vaccinated for COVID-19.

Dr. Bonnie Henry says the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was tested primarily on healthy people of varying ages and it's not known if it will work or is safe for those with chronic liver or kidney diseases, for example.

Clinical trials of the Moderna vaccine, which is expected to be the next one to be approved in Canada, also excluded people who are immunocompromised.

Dr. Henry says 1,215 health-care workers have been vaccinated so far with the limited number of vaccine doses available and about 380,000 people are expected to be immunized in the province by March.

The province has recorded 673 new cases of COVID-19 and 21 more deaths, for a total of 713 fatalities since the start of the pandemic.

Dr. Henry says the vaccine will be a "game-changer" for residents of long-term care homes, who have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic, but for now it's important for everyone to keep their gatherings small heading into Christmas.