All New Brunswickers 18 or older can now get a second COVID-19 booster dose if it’s been at least five months since their last dose, the government announced Tuesday.
It comes after New Brunswick recorded four more deaths from COVID in the past week, the number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 nearly doubled and nearly 2,500 new infections were reported, newly released data show.
The decision to lower the eligibility for a fourth dose from 50 is based on increasing risk and is “in line” with most Canadian jurisdictions, although it predates federal advice, said Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health.
There are indications that New Brunswick is at the beginning of a period of “increased activity” of COVID-19, driven by Omicron’s BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, she said, without calling it a new wave of the pandemic.
“Each jurisdiction has had a different experience with COVID. Some people call it the third wave of Omicron, others call it the seventh wave. We here in New Brunswick are really sticking to our epidemiologist’s recommendation – it’s week 27 of the 2022 COVID year, just like we count the flu year.”
The province wants the reporting of COVID to be consistent with other respiratory illnesses, Russell said.
But she didn’t rule out using the term “wave” again at some point.
“I won’t say never. I’m just not going to use it today.”
Omicron’s BA.5 sub-variant now dominates
Highly transmissible BA.5 quickly overtook Omicron BA.2 as the province’s dominant strain, accounting for 45 percent of the most recent random samples sent for sequencing, compared with 23 percent, the province’s COVIDWatch report shows.
BA.4 came in second, accounting for 32 percent of the samples.
Both BA.5 and BA.4 have shown the ability to evade the protection offered by a previous infection. But data coming out of countries where it has already taken hold, like South Africasuggest they are no heavier than previous Omicron sub-variants.
“Getting vaccinated is the best way to reduce your risk,” Russell said. “Expanding booster eligibility will give people an extra layer of protection.”
A total of 2,465 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the past week, according to Tuesday’s COVIDWatch report. (Government of New Brunswick)
New Brunswick’s first and second dose rates were again unchanged this week at 93.3 percent and 88.2 percent, while the third dose rate increased by 0.1 percent to 52.9 percent.
People who got their second dose “either didn’t know their immunity was going to go down, or they had bad side effects and really didn’t see the need to go through it again,” Russell suggested.
Asked if the province has a plan to increase vaccination rates, other than encouraging people to get vaccinated, she said, “it’s just continuing to let people know that everyone’s risk factor depends on age, immunocompromised, chronic disease. And again, we know that the weakening of immunity happens.
“And so we want people to really get [whatever] booster for which they are eligible.”
Fourth doses increased three percent, to 21.7 percent, among those 50 and older and five percent, to 37.2 percent, among those 70 and older, Russell said.
NACI Recommendations for 2nd Boosters
Last month, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommended that people age 65 or older who are at high risk of severe illness from a COVID-19 infection be offered a booster vaccine this fall, regardless of how many booster shots they received before .
Everyone else — ages 12 to 64 — “may be offered” the extra doses in the fall, the updated NACI guidelines said.
Booster doses can be offered six months after a person’s previous dose of the COVID-19 vaccine or COVID infection, the advisory body recommends.
“However, a shorter interval than at least [three] months may be justified in the context of increased epidemiological risk as well as operational considerations for effective program implementation.”
As it stands, NACI has strongly recommended a second booster vaccine against COVID-19 for people age 80 or older and those living in long-term care and other groups. Provinces may consider offering a second booster to people aged 70 to 79 in the community, and a second booster “may also be considered” for adults under 70 in or from First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities, NACI said.
Some provinces, such as PEI, have opened second COVID boosters for people as young as 12 years old.
In New Brunswick, booster doses are available at pharmacies. Public Health will also offer clinics in some areas of the province to ensure access, according to a news release.
In addition to vaccines, it’s important for people to continue to stay home when sick, get tested when experiencing symptoms and practice good hand hygiene, Russell said.
People may also choose outdoor social activities over indoor ones to reduce their risks, she added.
Deaths and hospitalizations
Two people in their 70s and two in their 80s have died of COVID-19, according to the province’s COVIDWatch report. Two of them lived in the Moncton area, Zone 1, and two in the Fredericton area, Zone 3.
Their deaths bring the pandemic’s death toll to 433.
Horizon and Vitalité health networks had 95 patients with COVID as of Saturday, seven of whom needed intensive care, their COVID dashboards showed. That’s up from 50 and four weeks earlier, respectively.
This includes patients who were admitted for COVID, as well as those who were initially admitted for another reason and later tested positive for the virus.
Meanwhile, the province, which counts only those admitted for COVID, says the number of active hospitalizations and hospital admissions declined between July 3 and July 9.
There are 17 people in hospital, down from 19, including two in intensive care, up one, according to the weekly COVIDWatch report.
The number of new hospital admissions for COVID-19 fell to 15 from 22, it said.
A child up to 10 years old is among the newly admitted. The others included one person in their 40s, two in their 50s, two in their 60s, four in their 70s, two in their 80s and three in their 90s.
Horizon has 78 patients with COVID-19, including six in intensive care, as of Saturday, while Vitalité has 17 patients with COVID-19, including one in intensive care. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
Horizon had 78 active COVID-19 admissions, including six in intensive care, as of Saturday, according to the COVID Dashboard. That’s up from 36 and three respectively in last week’s update.
The distribution of cases includes:
- Moncton Region, Zone 1-22.
- St. John’s Region, Zone 2 — 36.
- Fredericton Region Zone 3 — 15.
- Miramichi Region, Zone 7 — Fri.
The dashboard does not provide details on which hospitals have patients.
Vitalité had 17 COVID-19 patients hospitalized as of Saturday, up from 14, including one in intensive care, unchanged.
Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Center in Moncton, Campbellton Regional Hospital and Tracadie Hospital each have five patients, Edmundston Regional Hospital has one in intensive care and Chaleur Regional Hospital in Bathurst has one patient, shows the dashboard.
2465 new cases
A total of 2,465 new cases of COVID-19 were reported last week, up from 1,915 last week and 1,025 the previous week.
This includes 1,044 cases confirmed by a laboratory PCR test (out of 768) and 1,421 self-reported by people who tested positive in a rapid test (out of 1,147).
There are now 1,382 active cases across the province, based on PCR cases alone, compared to 966 a week ago.
19 outbreaks on hospital wards
There are outbreaks of COVID-19 in 14 Horizon hospital units, up from eight a week ago — four in the Moncton region, zone 1, eight in the St. John’s region, zone 2, one in the Fredericton region, zone 3., and one in the Miramichi region, zone 7.
No dashboard details were available, but Horizon spokesman Chris McDavid said they included:
- Moncton Hospital Medical Surgical ICU, Cardiology Unit 3400, Rehabilitation Unit 4400 and Stroke Unit 4600.
- Brunswick Ward of Sackville Memorial Hospital.
- Saint John Regional Hospital 5CS Family Medicine Unit, Surgical Intensive Care Unit, 4CS Rehabilitation Unit, 4CN Internal Medicine Unit, 4AN Transitional Care Unit, and 5CN Family Medicine Unit.
- Sussex Health Center Family Medicine South Wing.
- St. Joseph’s Hospital Geriatric Assessment Unit, Geriatric Emergency, 5th Floor.
- Miramichi Regional Hospital 1 East Rehabilitation/Alternative Level of Care.
Vitalité has five outbreak units: Tracadie Hospital Medical Unit and 2nd North Unit, Campbellton Regional Hospital Geriatric Unit and Restigouche Hospital Center C-1 Continuing Rehabilitation Unit.
204 healthcare workers absent due to COVID
Horizon has seen some improvement in the number of healthcare workers who have left work after testing positive for COVID-19 or after coming into contact with a positive case, according to the dashboard.
As of Saturday, there were 83 staff absences due to COVID. Last week, 100 employees were absent.
No breakdown provided.
Meanwhile, Vitalité had 121 workers quit, compared to 82. Moncton Region, Zone 1, had the largest share, 38, followed by Bathurst Region, Zone 6, with 35, Campbellton Region, Zone 5, with 30 and Edmundston Region, Zone 4, with 18 pcs.
Due to the “ongoing shortage” of doctors and nurses, Vitalité is urging the public to avoid visiting its emergency departments for any non-urgent health concerns.
“People who still come to the emergency room for non-urgent reasons may be asked to return at a later date, be redirected to the community or face a long wait,” regional health authorities advised in a news release.
People whose health is not critical are encouraged to make an appointment with their family doctor, speak with their community pharmacist, call Tele-Care (811) or book a virtual…
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