New Brunswick’s COVID-19 vaccination rate continues to inch ahead but it’s still a far cry from the 75 per cent target.
On Tuesday, the portion of the eligible population who are fully vaccinated rose by 0.3 per cent to 64.7 per cent.
In the meantime, one new case was reported, someone under the age of 19 residing in the Saint John region but is currently out of province.
The province said there are no new recoveries to report, meaning there are now seven active cases and no one in hospital with the virus.
New Brunswick declared a state of emergency back on March 19, 2020, but a lot has changed since then.
The province hoped to have 75 per cent of the eligible population fully vaccinated before removing COVID measures, but announced last Friday the mandatory order would now be removed as of this Friday at 11:59 p.m.
The New Brunswick Medical Society has “every confidence in the decision” to lift restrictions ahead of the original target, but says the virus will have an influence on the health-care system for “some time,” especially if there is a rise in cases.
“We have to couple that stress and concern we have about the strain the disease will have on the health system with the fact that our economy needs to keep moving — we need to make sure people can work and care for themselves and have some level of normalcy,” says Anthony Knight, the medical society’s CEO. “It’s been challenging for people with mental wellness as well.”
Despite the mandatory order coming to an end, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Jennifer Russell has said we’ll continue to live with COVID-19 for some time, but that we’re moving forward.
“We have very few new cases of COVID-19 in the province and the ones we are seeing now are travel-related,” she said Friday. “We are stopping the spread of COVID-19 very quickly when it arrives in our province.”
“We believe with these tools and our experiences of the past 17 months, along with the low case numbers, no hospitalization, and climbing vaccinations, we are safe to take this next step,” Premier Blaine Higgs said July 23.
Dr. Russell also said most cases reported recently are in those people who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.
The province says it’s awaiting federal directives as it pertains to vaccines for kids under age 12 — which aren’t currently approved — and possible booster doses.
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