All Nova Scotians Could Be Vaccinated By June
HALIFAX — Nova Scotia’s top doctor says the province is on track to vaccinate every Nova Scotian who wants it by the end of June.
Dr. Robert Strang shared the news Tuesday at a Covid-19 update with premier Iain Rankin. Strang said he’s “very confident” in the plan the province has in place.
According to Rankin, the province has been steadily ramping up the number of vaccinations it’s giving out.
The premier said 10 community clinics are up and running across the province, and booking has just opened at select pharmacies for some people currently eligible for vaccines.
Rankin said the province administered a record 3,800 vaccine doses Monday, bringing the total number of Nova Scotians given their first vaccine dose to more than 60,000.
Until now, vaccines have been restricted primarily to frontline healthcare workers and residents over certain ages. But with 30,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine set to arrive in the province this week, Rankin said the province will soon scale up its program.
He said he plans to have 200 pharmacies across the province administering vaccines by the end of April, and that he expects the province will be able to vaccine 86,000 people per week by mid-May.
“Now that our vaccine supply is ramping up we will be able to start moving through the age groups quickly over the next few months,” Rankin said.
Strang said the overall goal of the province’s plan is to build “a high level of Covid-19 immunity as fast as possible.”
“Through my career I’ve learned the importance of setting a goal, establishing targets, carefully planning to build a strong foundation, and staying focused and trusting your plan when it comes time to execute. And this is the exact approach we are taking for our vaccine program,” Strang said.
Strang said his vaccination plan should see the province reach herd immunity by mid-May, with about 70 percent of people given their first doses of vaccine.
Although the province will have better control over the spread of Covid-19 in May, Strang said it’s too early to say definitively how public health restrictions might be relaxed.
“We’re really at the starting point of having these kinds of conversation around what the public health measures look like,” Strang said.
He pointed out there still isn’t definitive evidence that vaccinated people can’t be asymptomatic transmitters. That knowledge is “critical” to crafting public health measures and Strang said until there’s proof vaccinated people can’t spread Covid-19 “it’s very difficult to justify lessening restrictions.”
“It’s premature for us to start lifting restrictions for people even if they’re immunized. But we have to get clarity on science,” he said.
Strang said public health measures will also depend on how other Canadian provinces are handling the virus, and what is happening with new Covid-19 variants.
However, he said he’s “cautiously optimistic that we’ll be able to do more things [this summer], especially outdoor activities.”
Last week, Nova Scotia opened its borders with New Brunswick, allowing people from that province to come into the province without self-isolating. The premiers of the Atlantic provinces also say they plan to reopen the Atlantic Bubble no later than April 19.
Today, one new case of Covid-19 was reported in Nova Scotia. The case is travel-related and the person infected is self-isolating as required.
As of March 23, there are 21 active Covid-19 cases in the province.
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