N.S. Will Open Hundreds Of Thousands Of Booster Appointments Monday
HALIFAX—Nova Scotia will open “a couple hundred thousand” appointments for Covid-19 vaccination booster doses on Monday.
Premier Tim Houston made the announcement December 30, as the province reported 511 new Covid cases.
Houston said the Omicron variant of Covid-19 is “extremely contagious” but appears to be far less severe than previous Covid-19 strains.
Right now, there are 25 people in hospital in Nova Scotia with serious Covid-19 cases. Three of them are in the ICU.
“The reality is Omicron is everywhere. And the return to zero-case days is a ways away,” Houston said. “This naturally raises anxiety because we have been conditioned to fear Covid—and we must continue to have a healthy dose of fear when it comes to this virus. However, while Omicron is obviously extremely contagious, the evidence today is that it is generally far less severe.”
Because the latest Covid-19 strain does appear far less serious, the province is changing its testing and reporting strategy.
That means moving to a more “self-management approach” for less serious cases, where Nova Scotians will be responsible for their own isolation and notifying contacts if they have a confirmed Covid-19 case.
More information on new Covid testing and contact tracing protocols is available here.
Houston said the new system means it is even more important for the province to shift its focus to giving out booster shots.
So far, he said, about 219,000 Nova Scotians have already had a vaccine booster dose, or have an appointment to get one. Many of those are the most vulnerable people in the province.
However, there are still about 500,000 Nova Scotia who need a booster shot.
Houston said the government feels the urgency around making more booster shots available but must overcome two significant challenges to make that happen.
One is ensuring there are enough physical venues to dole out booster shots in. The other, more concerning challenge is finding enough people to give out the shots.
“We need more people. We need people to help actually get those vaccines in arms. It’s our biggest hurdle, especially now that we have an extreme shortage and pressure of healthcare workers and on the healthcare system,” Houston said.
The premier asked retired doctors, nurses, or anyone with experience administering vaccines to step up and help give out booster doses. More information is available here.
In the meantime, Houston said the province is working to open as many clinics as it can, and will continue offering booster doses at pharmacies.
He also said the government is in discussion with the Canadian Armed Forces about possibly of recruiting its members’ help administer booster shots.
Trevor Nichols is the associate editor of Huddle, based in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].