New Brunswick expands eligibility for second COVID-19 booster dose
As of Tuesday, New Brunswickers who are 50 and older can go and get a second COVID-19 booster shot at participating pharmacies.
However, the New Brunswick Pharmacists’ Association's vice president, Paul Bowman, says many of those who are interested in booking another booster may be of age, but not quite eligible due to catching COVID-19.
"Between now and getting their first booster, it seems like, you talk to your friends and family, and certainly over the last couple of months a lot of people seem to have come into contact with the infection," says Bowman.
According to the eligibility guidelines, adults aged 50 and older can get their second booster if it’s been at least five months since their last dose.
Anyone who has been recently infected with the virus should wait three months before getting their fourth shot.
"So, that’s certainly pushing some people back a little further in terms of wanting their fourth dose, but not being currently eligible," says Bowman.
According to numbers released by the province Tuesday, 51.8 per cent of eligible New Brunswickers have received their first booster dose.
It’s a figure the province’s opposition leader says is far from where he believes it should be.
"I think we’re one of the provinces that have been the least aggressive to be honest in really funding an advertising campaign and its benefits," says Liberal Leader Roger Melanson.
Melanson says, based on what New Brunswick is seeing with third doses, he expects the number of fourth doses to also be low.
To date, 93.1 per cent of eligible New Brunswickers have received a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 87.8 per cent have received a second.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
Wisconsin school district says active shooter 'neutralized' outside middle school
A Wisconsin school district said an active shooter was 'neutralized' outside a middle school in Mount Horeb on Wednesday, and no one inside the building was injured.
Poilievre unrepentant over calling Trudeau 'wacko' as his MPs say Speaker should resign
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he does not regret calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 'wacko,' and now his MPs are renewing calls for the House of Commons Speaker to resign, this time over ordering the Official Opposition leader to leave the chamber.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh confirms his party will support the Liberals' federal budget
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says his party will support the federal budget, ending any speculation that the party could pull out of its deal with the minority Liberal government.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Dental care program accepting claims for 1 million seniors
Citizens' Services Minister Terry Beech says 1,200 seniors have already visited a dentist and had their claims processed by the federal government's new dental care plan.
Lawyers for alleged serial killer to argue he is not criminally responsible
Defence lawyers told court they will argue alleged serial killer Jeremy Skibicki is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women by way of a mental disorder.
B.C. tribunal decides first case involving non-consensual sharing of intimate images
In a first-of-its-kind case, a B.C. tribunal has ruled on a dispute involving the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, awarding damages and issuing orders that the photos be destroyed and taken offline.