Spring COVID-19 vaccines will be available April 2 to New Brunswickers considered most at risk of severe illness.
This includes people aged 65 or older, residents of nursing homes and adult residential facilities, and immunocompromised people aged six months or older, the Department of Health said in a news release Monday.
The announcement comes as the virus killed two more New Brunswickers between March 3 and March 9, and hospitalized 21, one of whom required intensive care.
“COVID-19 is circulating in Canada and elsewhere. Getting vaccinated is an important way to help protect against the impacts of the virus,” Dr. Yves Léger, the acting chief medical officer of health, said in a statement.
“In following with recommendations from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, the spring booster campaign will be focused on populations at increased risk of severe illness,” he said.
Others with fall dose considered up to date
People who do not meet the spring eligibility guidelines but received a fall or winter dose as part of the current vaccination campaign, which began Oct. 16, “are considered fully up to date, and do not require another vaccine this spring,” according to the department’s COVID-19 vaccines website.
Anyone who has not been vaccinated as part of the current vaccination campaign is encouraged to get a shot, said Léger.
Even if you already had COVID-19, and two or more previous vaccine doses, you still benefit from another dose, the website says.
“The combination of the vaccine and the infection work together to create hybrid immunity,” it says. “Hybrid immunity provides strong protection against new variants.”
Vaccine protection and hybrid immunity will both wane over time.
Dr. Yves Léger, the province’s acting chief medical officer of health, said people who didn’t get a fall vaccine should get one now. (Government of New Brunswick/Zoom)
According to the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, or NACI, receiving a spring COVID-19 vaccine is “particularly important” for those at increased risk of severe illness who did not receive a dose of the XBB.1.5 COVID-19 vaccine during the fall program.
Public Health recommends that those who are eligible for the spring shot wait at least six months after their last vaccine or COVID-19 infection — whichever is more recent.
Eligible New Brunswickers can start booking appointments on March 25, either online, by calling 1-833-437-1424 or by contacting a participating pharmacy.
The spring campaign for people at increased risk will end on June 15 “so as not to interfere with the fall COVID-19 vaccination campaign,” the department said.
NACI will … provide recommendations on the timing of subsequent doses if warranted.– National Advisory Committee on Immunization
CBC News has requested more information.
In its updated COVID-19 vaccine guidance, NACI said: “If there is a need for a fall 2024 campaign, jurisdictions may want to consider an end date for the spring 2024 campaign in order to support eligibility for the fall 2024 campaign based on the recommended interval.”
“NACI will continue to monitor the evidence, including SARS-CoV-2 epidemiology, [vaccine effectiveness] of XBB.1.5 vaccines and duration of vaccine protection, particularly with regard to severe outcomes, to provide recommendations on the timing of subsequent doses if warranted,” the national advisory committee said.
Only about 500 New Brunswickers rolled up their sleeves for a COVID vaccine in the past week, according to figures from the Department of Health.
As of Tuesday, a total of 147,249 XBB.1.5 vaccines have been administered since Oct. 4, up from 146,712 last week.
Of those hospitalized for or with the virus during the reporting week, five were aged 45 to 64, one of whom required intensive care, and the other 16 were aged 65 or older.
Six lab-confirmed COVID outbreaks were declared, down from five. Two were in nursing homes, while the other four were in facilities described only as “other.”
Sixty new cases of COVID were confirmed through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) lab tests, down from 74.
The positivity rate — or the percentage of lab tests performed that produced a positive result — is five per cent, down from six.
“COVID-19 activity remains moderate; most indicators (Hospital admissions, ICU admissions, number of outbreaks and number of deaths) remained stable during the current reporting period,” the report says.
7 youth among flu hospitalizations
No influenza deaths were recorded between March 3 and March 9, but the flu sent 23 people to hospital, up from 14 in last week’s Respiratory Watch report.
None were admitted to intensive care, down from one.
Among those hospitalized were three children under four, four youth aged five to 19, four people aged 20 to 44, two aged 45 to 64, and 10 aged 65 or older.
The 23 people hospitalized by the flu March 3-9, illustrated by the green bar, is higher than the previous week and higher than the historical average of the 2017-18 to 2022-23 respiratory seasons, illustrated by the blue line. (Government of New Brunswick)
Lab tests confirmed 145 new cases of the flu, up from 120. These raise the total number of cases since the respiratory season began on Aug. 27 to 2,897.
The breakdown of the new cases includes 108 influenza B, 28 influenza A (unsubtyped), eight influenza A (H1N1 pdm09) and one influenza A (H3N2).
The positivity rate is 12 per cent, up from 11.
No lab-confirmed influenza outbreaks or school “influenza-like illness” outbreaks were reported.
Influenza activity remains stable, according to the report.
As of Tuesday, a total of 221,808 New Brunswickers have been vaccinated against the flu this season, the Department of Health said.
Hospital COVID outbreaks continue
Horizon Health Network has 21 active COVID-19 hospital admissions, as of Saturday, the same number as a week ago, its COVID dashboard shows. One person is in intensive care, up from none.
Six health-care workers are off sick after testing positive for the virus, down from eight.
There were COVID outbreaks at two Horizon hospitals, as of Tuesday. The Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton has outbreaks on the transitional care unit and on the rehabilitation/restorative unit, while the Charlotte County Hospital in St. Stephen has an outbreak on the family medicine unit on Floor 1.
Its outbreaks page is updated more frequently, however, and shows one outbreak at the Grand Falls General Hospital’s multipurpose unit, as of last Friday.
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
