Nova Scotia expanding COVID-19 vaccine groups as province reports 1 new case

Nova Scotia reported one new case of COVID-19 on Friday and announced the expansion of the province’s COVID-19 vaccination program.

The expansion will include anyone who is 80 years of age and older and born in May, June, July or August.

According to the province, people aged 80 and older and born between May 1 and Aug. 31 will be able to book an appointment at a community clinic starting Monday.

Premier Iain Rankin said at a coronavirus briefing that appointments are filling up, but there’s still space.“Seniors are arriving with flowers and excited to get their vaccine,” said Rankin.He said more than 100 people have been trained to give vaccines, and some have come out of retirement to do so.

2:07 Coronavirus: Nova Scotia expanding COVID-19 vaccine groups as province reports 1 new case

New COVID-19 case and vaccine rollouts

The province reported earlier on Friday that the new case is in the eastern zone and is under investigation.As of Friday, 17 active cases remain in the province.“Our case numbers are staying very low, and this is good news for a number of reasons, one of those reasons being our vaccine rollouts,” Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s top doctor, said at the briefing.There were 1,074 tests administered between March 5 and March 11 at the rapid-testing pop-up sites in Spryfield, Bedford and Upper Tantallon.

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As of March 11, the province says 46,891 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered. Of those, 15,655 Nova Scotians have received their second dose.Strang said the province is nearing the end of the limited supply phase for vaccines and is ready to deliver increasing amounts.

Rankin also said the province saw a record number of vaccinations this week and is expecting 100,000 vaccines more than what it’s received so far.

In the meantime, Rankin and Strang are encouraging families to keep social bubbles as small as possible during March break, even as camps continue running this year.

At the briefing, Rankin acknowledged the toll the pandemic has taken on businesses, notably those in the tourism industry, and announced a rebate program for hotels, motels and inn operators.

He explained that the program will provide qualified operators a 50 per cent rebate on their property tax paid for the first six months of 2021-22 commercial tax.

According to the province, this one-time payment will help ease some of the pressures experienced by operators resulting from the restrictions of the pandemic.

Operators can use the rebate for any aspect of their business, such as hiring staff, paying down debt, paying utilities or ordering supplies.

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According to the province, the following groups are still eligible to be immunized:

• Those aged 80 and older and born between Jan. 1 and April 30 can book an appointment at a community clinic.
• People who are 63 and 64 years old can book an appointment for the AstraZeneca vaccine at one of 25 pharmacies and physicians’ offices.

“Nova Scotians who are in one of these groups are encouraged to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as possible,” the province said in a press release.

“Other groups will become eligible as more vaccine is rolled out across the province.”

The province said its goal continues to be to immunize as many Nova Scotians as quickly as possible, based on age, to reach a high rate of population immunity.

COVID-19 vaccination appointments must be made on the province’s website.

The Nova Scotia Health Authority’s labs completed 2,681 Nova Scotia tests on March 11.

Since Oct. 1, 2020, Nova Scotia has completed 260,489 tests. There have been 577 positive COVID-19 cases and no deaths.

One person is currently in hospital. There are 560 resolved cases.