HALIFAX -- New provincial figures indicate Nova Scotia's COVID-19 vaccination program has picked up its pace in recent weeks after an admitted slow start.

Tracey Barbrick, the associate deputy minister for Nova Scotia's vaccine strategy, said in an interview today the province administered 14,742 doses on Tuesday -- the highest one-day total since the start of the campaign.

Barbrick says 23.6 per cent of people who are eligible for a shot have received at least one dose, which is just slightly below the national average of about 25 per cent.

She says Nova Scotia is roughly one week behind other provinces because it held back about 25,000 doses for booster shots before changing its strategy to a four-month interval between first and second doses.

Barbrick says a recent increase in supply of vaccine allowed the province to move from administering 11,000 doses the week of March 14 to an expected 65,000 doses this week.

And despite an interruption in the supply of the Moderna vaccine, Premier Iain Rankin has said the province remains on track to reach its goal of giving all Nova Scotians who want vaccine at least one shot by the end of June.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 21, 2021.