Maritime provinces prepare to start administering 2nd COVID-19 booster shots
New Brunswick pharmacies will soon be administering second COVID-19 booster doses for those who are 50 and older in the province, following updated guidelines recently released by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI).
“Demand has been high,” says Fredericton pharmacist Alistair Bursey. “So, we’re definitely going to expand where maybe we’ve been doing two or three patients per day in our pharmacy – I think we’re going to probably end up seeing 30, 40, or 50 people coming in each clinic daily.”
The fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine will become available for the specified age group on Tuesday.
Meantime, Nova Scotia also announced it too will soon be offering second booster shots to long-term care residents and residents aged 70 and older.
Dr. Zahid Butt, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ont., says it’s especially important for the elderly population to get the fourth dose at this point in time.
“There is waning immunity among the elderly because they were the first ones that got all of their doses, plus the booster dose,” says Butt. “This is a support to boost their immunity, so that’s why you have this fourth booster dose among this population.”
Also starting this week in New Brunswick, high-risk COVID-19 patients will be able to contact their primary care physician for a prescription of the anti-viral treatment Paxlovid.
Bursey says they’re seeing a big increase in the number of prescriptions they’re filling at his Fredericton pharmacy.
“I think we dispensed maybe three or four in the first month or so, and in one week, we dispensed about 15 at our pharmacy, and that’s good because it’s a great treatment and it’s another tool in our arsenal," says Bursey.
The province says Paxlovid will be available at no cost, and while it can be taken at home, it has to be taken within five days of symptoms starting to make it as effective as possible.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Slovakia's populist prime minister shot in assassination attempt, shocking Europe before elections
Slovakia's populist prime minister, Robert Fico, was shot multiple times and gravely wounded Wednesday after a political event in an attempted assassination that shocked the small country and reverberated across Europe.
Transport Canada's UFO 'lead' planned to meet with U.S. intel officials, called info requests a 'wild goose chase'
Canada's transportation department had a UFO 'lead' who tried to 'quell' media interest and planned to meet with U.S. intelligence officials.
'Very expensive lunch': Sask. driver handed a cell phone ticket for using points app in McDonald's drive-thru
A warning from a Saskatoon driver about using your fast-food app while in the drive-thru line — a trip to get some free lunch cost him a lot more than he bargained for.
'The Fly' has become notorious in France after a brazen escape. What's his criminal history?
A prisoner nicknamed “The Fly” has become notorious in France overnight after a daring and bloody escape from a prison convoy in Normandy that left two guards dead.
BREAKING Ontario's 'Crypto King' Aiden Pleterski arrested
Aiden Pleterski, the self-proclaimed 'crypto king' from Whitby, Ont., has been arrested in Durham Region after allegedly running a Ponzi scheme worth more than $40 million.
Barge hits a bridge in Texas, damaging the structure and causing an oil spill
A barge slammed into a bridge pillar in Galveston, Texas, on Wednesday, spilling oil into surrounding waters and closing the only road to a smaller and separate island that is home to a university, officials said. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Person responsible for 1996 drugging of 'Titanic' crew likely not a local: Halifax police
Halifax Regional Police believe a non-resident could be responsible for the infamous drugging of numerous crew members of the 'Titanic' movie with a hallucinogenic in 1996.
Latest updates on the biggest wildfires burning in Canada
Thousands of people in Western Canada remain displaced from their homes as wildfires threaten their communities, triggering evacuation orders and alerts.
OPINION If you think you can’t focus for long, you’re right: Sandee LaMotte
Regaining your focus requires you to be mindful of how you are using technology -- a daunting task if you consider the average American spends at least 10 hours a day on screens.