N.B. health officials say 19 of 23 new COVID-19 cases reported Thursday not fully vaccinated

HALIFAX -

New Brunswick reported 23 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, along with six recoveries, as the total number of active infections in the province increases to 132.

“Out of the new cases being reported today, 83 per cent are not fully vaccinated,” said Dr. Cristin Muecke, deputy chief medical officer in a news release. “Having 19 out of 23 new cases not fully vaccinated shows, again, the importance of people getting vaccinated with two doses to protect themselves, their families and those who cannot get vaccinated, such as children under 12.”

Sixteen new cases were reported in the Moncton region (Zone 1) involving:

• four people age 19 and under;
• three people in their 20s;
• two people in their 30s;
• three people in their 40s;
• two people in their 50s
• two people in their 60s.

Fourteen cases are under investigation and two cases are contacts of previously confirmed cases.

Three cases were reported in the Saint John region (Zone 2) involving two people age 19 and under, and one individual in their 30s. Two cases are under investigation and the other one is travel-related.

Four cases were reported in the Miramichi region (Zone 7) involving an individual in their 20s, two people in their 40s and an individual in their 60s. Three of the cases are contacts of previously confirmed cases and the other one is under investigation.

There is currently one hospitalization in New Brunswick due to COVID-19, with no one in an intensive care unit.

VACCINE UPDATE

As of Thursday, 72 per cent of New Brunswickers age 12 and older are fully vaccinated and 83.7 per cent have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

In total, 1,079,755 vaccine doses have been administered in New Brunswick.

If you have not yet had your first or second dose, you are encouraged to go to a mobile or walk-in clinic or to book an appointment through a participating pharmacy or at a Vitalité or Horizon Health Network clinic.

All eligible New Brunswickers can book their second dose appointments now for a date that is at least 28 days after their first dose.

If you have an appointment for a vaccine but were able to get vaccinated sooner elsewhere, please be sure to contact your pharmacy or regional health authority clinic to cancel the appointment you no longer need. This will help ensure that someone else in your community can obtain their vaccination sooner.

COVID-19 CASE DATA

New Brunswick has had 2,582 cumulative cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

In total, 2,403 people have recovered, and 46 people have died in the province from COVID-19.

Public health says 1,229 tests were completed in New Brunswick on Wednesday. A total of 396,856 tests have been processed since the start of the pandemic.

The number of cases are broken down by New Brunswick’s seven health zones:

• Zone 1 – Moncton region: 660 confirmed cases (94 active cases)
• Zone 2 – Saint John region: 317 confirmed cases (12 active cases)
• Zone 3 – Fredericton region: 465 confirmed cases (10 active cases)
• Zone 4 – Edmundston region: 755 confirmed cases (no active cases)
• Zone 5 – Campbellton region: 188 confirmed cases (2 active cases)
• Zone 6 – Bathurst region: 145 confirmed cases (5 active cases)
• Zone 7 – Miramichi region: 52 confirmed cases (9 active cases)

MANDATORY VACCINATION FOR GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES

As cases of COVID-19 continue to climb and vaccination demand drops in New Brunswick, a program is in the works to make vaccines mandatory for public servants in the province, according to the premier.

"We are going to proceed with a mandatory vaccine program and that will be based on, at this stage, on government employees," premier Blaine Higgs said during a scrum with the media outside of the legislature on Wednesday afternoon. "Then we will be looking at, if people choose not to get vaccinated, a testing program that follows that up."

Higgs also says that they will be recommending to businesses and other institutions that they encourage mandatory vaccinations as well, which is a recommendation from Public Health.

Public health says, the specific details are still being finalized, but the policy will require all provincial government employees to be fully vaccinated or submit to regular testing, and to wear a mask at work until they have received both vaccine doses. Vaccination will also be a condition of employment for new hires.

Details of the policy will be communicated directly to employees once they have been finalized.

POTENTIAL PUBLIC EXPOSURES

Anyone with symptoms of the virus, as well as anyone who has been at the site of a possible public exposure, is urged to request a test online or call Tele-Care at 811 to get an appointment.