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
India's foreign minister reacts to murder charges, claims Canada welcomes criminals
India's Foreign Affairs Minister accused Canada of welcoming criminals from his country in response to the RCMP's recent arrests in a homicide that has roiled tensions between the two countries.
15-year-old boy stabbed in Ottawa on Thursday dies
A 15-year old boy who was critically injured after a stabbing in Nepean on Thursday has died of his injuries, Ottawa's English public school board said Sunday.
Dash cam catches moment suspected drunk driver hits parked car, sends it careening into North Shore flower shop
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
Actor Bernard Hill, of 'Titanic' and 'Lord of the Rings,' has died at 79
Actor Bernard Hill, who delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into battle in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' and went down with the ship as the captain in 'Titanic,' has died.
'A tiny city:' Pro-Palestinian campus protesters organize for another week
Pro-Palestinian activists have set up tents at universities in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal, following a wave of similar protests at campuses in the United States linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
Lawsuit against Meta asks if Facebook users have right to control their feeds using external tools
Do social media users have the right to control what they see — or don't see — on their feeds?
A Holocaust survivor will mark that history differently after the horrors of Oct. 7
This year's Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins on Sunday evening in Israel, carries a heavier weight than usual for many Jews around the world.
Princess Anne lays wreath at Battle of Atlantic ceremony; honours late Queen
Princess Anne saluted Canadian veterans and current forces members and honoured her late mother during separate ceremonies Sunday in Victoria as she wrapped up a three-day British Columbia West Coast royal visit.
El Nino weakening doesn't mean cooler temperatures this summer, forecasters say
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.