N.S. Public Health still seeing about 1,000 people daily for first dose of vaccine
The push continues to get Nova Scotians vaccinated, with many people still coming in for their first shot.
"In the last couple of weeks, we're back to, on weekdays anyway, averaging around 1,000 people a day coming forward to start their vaccine series," said Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia's chief medical officer of health.
Health officials in Nova Scotia want to have 75 per cent of the province's entire population fully vaccinated. As of Wednesday, at least 73.8 per cent of Nova Scotians are double-dosed.
"That 73.8 (per cent) is people that we know for sure and are in our system," said Strang.
"We've got around another one per cent of the military, or 1.2 percent, and then we have probably about another one per cent of people that were immunized outside of Nova Scotia in another province or the U.S. that they're working to get them entered in."
Chris Parsons, the provincial co-ordinator for the Nova Scotia Health Coalition, said the province needs to address real barriers that are preventing people from getting vaccinated.
"Sometimes that's an information barrier, but sometimes that's things like making sure people have paid time off if they suffer from side effects of the vaccine. Maybe that's making sure we're bringing vaccine to people in places where they're congregating," said Parsons. "Right now, simply asking people to do it clearly is not working."
According to Dr. Simon Sherry, there are a number of reasons why people might hesitate or refuse a vaccine.
One reason is disinformation.
"Some people are going down the wrong rabbit hole on the internet and coming up with false or misleading information," he said.
While there are legitimate barriers, like people who have needle phobia, Sherry said there are also some conspiratorial thinkers when it comes to vaccine hesitation.
"They have some sort of idea that Bill Gates is very powerful and he's going to control them through this vaccine but the story unfolds that they have special knowledge and now they have power because they're not going to let Bill Gates control them," said Sherry. "The narrative for the conspiratorial thinker is often that they've overcome this really powerful person and they themselves have become powerful and special, part of a chosen few who know the truth about vaccines as opposed to all these silly scientists."
While the province works to get more shots into arms, Nova Scotia's top doctor said health officials are finalizing plans for booster shots for some people who had mixed doses of vaccine and those with specific medical conditions.
"We're working with both our physician and pharmacy colleagues around identifying specifically those conditions, the medications that go along with those conditions and how people that meet that criteria can start to come forward to get immunized," said Strang.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.