Nova Scotia inching closer to vaccination target with 73.1 per cent now fully vaccinated; drop-in clinics continue
No appointments were necessary at a drop-in vaccine clinic Thursday at the IWK Health Centre.
Brian MacMullin was one of the Nova Scotians who got his second dose of vaccine at that location.
"I think the more people that do get the vaccine will help us a lot and we've done really well in Nova Scotia," said MacMullin.
Last week, the IWK vaccine clinic administered 300 shots in the three days it operated.
Nurse Shelly McHugh said health officials are still seeing people come in for their first dose of vaccine.
"About 50 per cent are first time, getting their first dose. So, we're just trying to make it as easy as possible as flexible as possible, because we really want people to get their vaccines," said McHugh.
As of Wednesday, 1,478,410 doses of vaccine have been administered. Of those, 709,884 Nova Scotians have received their second dose.
There are 173 active COVID cases in the province. Most of the new cases being reported are related to a cluster in the northern part of the province.
"We might be seeing that for a little while just because if somebody's already been exposed they might be a close contact and you might expect them to test positive in the near future even if they haven't yet already," said epidemiologist Kevin Wilson. "Probably the more concerning thing is untraced cases in the Halifax area which I think kind of flies under the radar a bit."
Wilson says every person who is vaccinated is a person who becomes drastically less likely to end up in hospital.
"The more people we get vaccinated is the more people we can keep out of the hospital and make any future outbreaks that happen much more easy to manage from a health care perspective," said Wilson.
Shelly McHugh said it's never too late to get vaccinated.
"We want to protect as many people as possible in Nova Scotia, we want to get our vaccine rates up to as high as possible so that our general population is protected, we can start to open up more and we can get back to living the way that we did before this virus happened," she said.
Public Health wants to have 75 per cent of the province's entire population double dosed. Right now, 73.1 per cent of Nova Scotians are fully immunized.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Trudeau promises $1B in loans for child-care providers to expand care centres
The federal government is launching a new loan program to help child-care providers in Canada expand their spaces, and will be extending further student loan forgiveness and training options for early childhood educators, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
Spring allergy season has begun. Where is it worse in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
'Nonsense:' Doug Ford slams lawsuits filed by Ontario school boards against social media platforms
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
N.B. man wins $64 million from Lotto 6/49
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
Multiple bridges in Calgary shut down for police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
King Charles calls for acts of friendship in first public remarks since Kate's cancer diagnosis
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.
Fallen crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison
Crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for a massive fraud that unravelled with the collapse of FTX, once one of the world's most popular platforms for exchanging digital currency.
A dog and a bird formed an unlikely friendship. Their separation has infuriated followers
Peggy is a stout and muscular Staffordshire bull terrier, and Molly is a magpie, an Australian bird best known for swooping on humans during breeding season, not for befriending dogs. But in an emotional video posted online, Peggy’s owners announced that the animals had been separated.