Vaccination rates fall off in Nova Scotia amid summer vacation season
The summer vacation season seems to have created a slowdown in vaccination bookings, at least in Nova Scotia.
A pharmacy owner in Baddeck says appointments at his vaccination clinic have slowed down to a trickle, but health officials are still confident the province will reach its immunization goals by September.
"People have definitely cancelled more appointments now. In the summertime, it can be tough”, says Graham MacKenzie, a Baddeck pharmacy owner whose store is currently a vaccination clinic.
MacKenzie says for a while, he was seeing anywhere from 60 to 200 appointments a day, but bookings have dropped off in the past week and a half.
"Days that could hold appointments of 120 or more, we might get anywhere from six to twelve appointments”, MacKenzie says.
Tracey Barbrick is head of Nova Scotia's vaccine rollout. She says there are about 100,000 vacant appointments province-wide in the next two weeks.
"The most opportunity within the system is now. There's tonnes of vacant appointments”, Barbrick says.
“What we would like to see is a lot of those second dose people who are eligible, move their appointments up. We'd love to see them do that because we'd love to hit 75 per cent fully vaccinated before September."
Barbrick adds that at 63 per cent,Nova Scotia is leading the country in double-vaccinated residents. Meanwhile, more than 75 per cent have received the first dose.
She said the percentage of people who have been vaccinated is generally consistent across different provincial regions.
"So our first doses are 76 per cent, our second doses are 63 per cent, and about two per cent a day increase in second doses based on appointments”, Barbrick says.
Back in Baddeck, Graham MacKenzie says next week he has a good number of Pfizer appointments that are booked, though there are still plenty of openings.
He predicts the slowdown in bookings in his area will end soon.
"With the 15th of August and onward, most appointments are going to be reschedules. So I think we're going to see a change in this pattern”, MacKenzie says.
On Friday, the Nova Scotia Health Authority announced it is adding three new outreach vaccination clinics next week in communities North of Smokey. They say it's to offer a bit more accessibility to the vaccine.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Still so much love between us,' Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
What to know about avian influenza in dairy cows and the risk to humans
Why is H5N1, or bird flu, a concern, how does it spread, and is there a vaccine? Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about avian influenza.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
opinion The special relationship between King Charles and the Princess of Wales
Royal commentator Afua Hagan writes that when King Charles recently admitted Catherine to the Order of the Companions of Honour, it not only made history, but it reinforced the strong bond between the King and his beloved daughter-in-law.
Pro-plastic lobbyist presence at UN talks is 'troubling,' say advocates
Environmentalist groups are sounding the alarm about a steep increase in the number of pro-plastic lobbyists at the UN pollution talks taking place this week.
'Too young to have breast cancer': Rates among young Canadian women rising
Breast cancer rates are rising in Canada among women in their 20s, 30s and 40s, according to research by the University of Ottawa (uOttawa).
Charlie Woods, son of Tiger, shoots 81 in U.S. Open qualifier
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
$70M Lotto Max winners kept prize a secret from family for 2 months
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Trump's lawyers grill ex-tabloid publisher as 1st week of hush money trial testimony nears a close
After prosecutors' lead witness painted a tawdry portrait of “catch-and-kill” tabloid schemes, defence lawyers in Donald Trump's criminal trial on Friday sought to dig into an account of the former publisher of the National Enquirer and his efforts to protect Trump from negative stories during the 2016 election.