Some New Brunswick pharmacies opt-out of vaccine program as demand drops
For more than four months now, pharmacists in New Brunswick have been going ‘flat out,’ administering nearly 450,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines and counting.
“All of this, of course, is on top of the other work that they do,” says Jake Reid, executive director of New Brunswick Pharmacists’ Association.
“Including giving out medications, and providing health services, so it’s been very, very busy for pharmacists.”
New Brunswick has now vaccinated more than 81 per cent of the eligible population with a first dose and more than 66 per cent have now received their second dose.
However, the New Brunswick Pharmacists’ Association says demand for COVID-19 vaccines is dropping and about 30 community pharmacies in the province have now opted-out of the vaccine program, with 179 now active.
“That’s certainly something we expected and not something anyone should be worried about,” says Reid. “There is a de-escalation happening right now as pharmacy staff take some time for themselves.”
A wind-down is also coming in the way Public Health reports its COVID-19 information. Once the province goes green – which is scheduled to happen on July 30 at 11:59 p.m. – news releases on cases and vaccination rates will no longer be routinely posted on weekdays.
“I think for me that’s where I get my information, in terms of case origin information,” says Halifax-based epidemiologist Kevin Wilson.
“Although I think if you wanted to, you could extrapolate that from the dashboard day-after-day, although I think it’s more work.”
However, there’s still some skepticism about the province’s plans to lift the mandatory order – including from infectious disease expert Dr. Lisa Barrett, who made her position on New Brunswick’s dropping of the mask mandate combined with the opening of borders.
“Do I think that doing the two before you reach your vaccine target is based in science? I don’t really think so.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.
Humanist group threatening to sue Vancouver over council prayers
The B.C. Humanist Association has threatened legal action against the City of Vancouver for allowing prayers at council, following a similar warning issued earlier this month to a smaller community on Vancouver Island.
LHSC performs a Canadian first in robot-assisted direct lateral spine surgery
Spine surgery may never be the same for people with chronic back pain and other physical ailments.