COVID-19 immunization clinic setting up. Photo: Nova Scotia Government
Nova Scotians at the highest risk for severe illness from Covid-19 can now book their spring dose.
The booster will be available from March 25 to May 31.
The groups eligible to book right now are those 65 or older, people 18 or over in long-term care, nursing homes or residential care facilities; people who are moderately or severely immunocompromised and those 50 or older who are indigenous or black.
Dr. Robert Strang said in a news release that cases are steady in Nova Scotia. But he urged people at the highest risk of infection to get their spring booster.
People who did not get a dose in the fall or winter can get the spring dose, even if they are not part of the specific groups mentioned.
Dr. Robert Strang speaks at COVID briefing February 23, 2022. Photo Communications Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia has announced the availability of new COVID-19 and influenza vaccines.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Robert Strang provided details about the rollout at a press conference Tuesday.
Nova Scotians aged 65 and older can get the high-dose influenza vaccine now. All Nova Scotians will have access to Moderna’s updated COVID-19 vaccine during the week of October 16. The standard-dose influenza vaccine is arriving in the province the week of October 23 and Pfizer’s updated COVID-19 vaccine will be available sometime in late October or early November.
The high-dose flu vaccine will be available at local pharmacies and medical clinics across the province starting this week.
Strang emphasized the importance of vaccination, stating, “This fall, we encourage everyone to roll up their sleeves and get both recommended vaccines to protect their health. It’s the best way to limit the spread of both influenza and COVID-19.”
The province is advising Nova Scotians that they can receive both flu and COVID vaccines at the same time. Anyone wishing to receive a vaccine can do so at a nearby pharmacy or outreach clinic by signing up online at Nova Scotia Immunization. Alternatively, people can book their shots through their family doctors or nurse practitioners.
Nova Scotia Health is reminding people that vaccines do not cause influenza or COVID-19 and that symptoms for both illnesses can overlap, including fever, headache, and fatigue.
Anyone who has already received their primary series of COVID-19 vaccines are eligible for an updated dose if six months have passed since their last vaccination or known COVID-19 infection. And officials are recommending children aged six months to nine years should receive two doses of the influenza vaccine four weeks apart this fall if they have never been vaccinated before.
Health authorities are urging all Nova Scotians to prioritize their health by getting vaccinated against both influenza and COVID-19 to protect themselves, their loved ones, and their communities.
To hear the broadcast of this story click play below.
Dr. Robert Strang speaks at COVID briefing February 23, 2022. Photo Communications Nova Scotia
Premier Tim Houston and Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Robert Strang announced at Wednesday’s COVID update the restrictions would come off in a phased approach.
The process will begin Monday February 28 when people will no longer have to show proof of vaccination for non-essential events like going to a gym or eating at a restaurant.
The second phase will begin the following week on March 7 when gathering limits will be increased for sporting events, arts and music performances and other formal gatherings.
Some businesses will be able to operate at full capacity at this point.
Restrictions will be fully lifted on March 21.
Strang says the phased approach will allow people who feel protected by the restrictions to ease into life without them.
“Restrictions played a necessary and important role in our response to COVID 19. They helped contain the spread of the virus in the first three waves before we had good vaccine coverage and they were critical in reducing the impact of the Delta and omicron waves,” said Strang. “But they were never meant to be a permanent solution. We always knew that they’d be lifted at some point and now it is time to move away from two years of crisis response and approach living with COVID in a long term and manageable manner.”
Houston praised Dr. Strang and the public health team for guiding Nova Scotians through the pandemic.
Premier Tim Houston at COVID briefing February 23, 2022. Photo Communications Nova Scotia
The premier acknowledged it wasn’t always easy and the restrictions caused rifts in relationships for friends and families.
He called on all Nova Scotians to work to repair those rifts.
“It’s up to each of us to play a part in healing our communities. We can have different opinions on the path to return to normal, how fast, how slow, we can have different opinions on that,” said Houston. “But we need to get back to a place, a respectful place where we find ways to respectfully disagree. Where we find ways and places that we can constantly remember that at our very core, as Nova Scotians, as Bluenosers, we care about each other.”
Dr. Robert Strang. Photo Communications Nova Scotia
The province’s top doctor says staff and students are welcome to share their COVID status, but schools won’t aid in getting the word out.
Dr. Robert Strang says the omicron variant is so widespread that there is little value in providing contract tracing.
“The risks of relying on being notified and then the false assumption that if you’re not notified, you’re somehow not at risk just don’t work anymore with the widespread of omicron,” said Strang.
While he recognizes the change is a significant psychological shift that will cause anxiety for some staff and parents, Strang says previous attempts at contact tracing have shown they may cause more harm than good.
“What we learned when we were doing this close contact tracing in November and December, particularly, was that doing that close contact tracing and then the subsequent isolation of people who were identified classroom contacts was incredibly disruptive to our school system and to families. So, we’re not going to be isolating people anymore.”
During Wednesday’s COVID briefing, Strang was asked why school officials have been told they are not permitted to share COVID cases.
Strang says it’s up to individual parents and teachers if they want to share their own personal information and schools would not distribute that information to protect the privacy of the people involved.
But he insisted reports of school officials being told not to share information is untrue.
“In fact, that is misinformation that’s been put out there by various groups that there’s somehow a ban or a gag order. That’s not true,” said Strang. “However, the school system and individual teachers need to be aware that there’s legislation that governs how somebody else’s personal health information is actually disclosed.”
Strang was provided with a copy of a letter issued to parents by a principal in which the principal says they have been specifically told they are not permitted to share COVID information with the school community.
Strang responded that is not the message that has come out of discussions he has had with education officials over the past few days.
“That has been clarified and that is not actually the appropriate phrasing and language that has been most recently shared with school administration.”
How the message has been clarified was not identified as the update was cut off abruptly following Dr. Strang’s response.
A series of follow up correspondence with the South Shore Regional Centre for Education, the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development and the Department of Health and Wellness all confirm the information provided by the principal was accurate.
The official policy from the education department echoes earlier comments from Dr. Strang that teachers and parents are free to share their own personal COVID information if they choose, but school administration will not make that information public.
The latest COVID numbers from public health show three more Nova Scotians have died, 11 people have been admitted to hospital and five have been discharged.
Strang says while public health is moving away from rigorous contact tracing, how people prevent the spread of COVID-19 remains the same.“The message for everybody is get vaccinated, follow all the personal protective measures, especially and if you’re sick with new cold and flu-like symptoms stay home,” said Strang. “That message doesn’t change just because somebody has been a close contact.”
Public health officials are asking Nova Scotians to change their COVID-19 testing habits.
At Wednesday’s COVID-19 briefing, Premier Tim Houston acknowledged Nova Scotian’s commitment to testing is the envy of public health officials across the country.
“To be totally honest, I’ve been a regular for months at either stopping at a clinic for a PCR or a rapid test at home. It’s always been something I’ve been doing during the pandemic, and it’s always provided a great deal of comfort. So, I get it,” said Houston. “I get that the change is difficult, but we have to start moving away from the way we’ve been testing.”
Houston says approximately 830,000 tests are distributed across Nova Scotia each week.
The province has ordered 2 million tests above the amount they receive from the federal government, but like the rest of the provinces they’re waiting on supply to arrive.
The province’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Robert Strang says before anyone can get a PCR or rapid test, they need to do the self-assessment online.
“This is the reality of dealing with limited supply and while you may not be happy about this, we all need you to understand and accept that others may need to be a higher priority than ourselves,” said Strang. “ Please do not get angry at frontline staff or try and find a workaround. Put others ahead of yourself and be kind to those who have been caring for you for over the past two years. They deserve nothing less than this.”
Public health announced 12 new hospital admissions and seven discharges Wednesday.
They also reported a woman in her 60s from the Western Zone has died.
Strang says Nova Scotians should be confident that vaccines are working.
While people are still dying from the virus, Strang says vaccines are preventing serious illness in most.
In a release, Nova Scotia Health said there are currently 600 staff and physicians off work due to COVID-19 infections, or self-isolate requirements.
As a result, only urgent and emergent surgeries, including time sensitive cancer surgeries, will be performed at this time
Strang says the omicron virus has seriously impacted the ability of hospitals to maintain staffing levels.
“There’s no doubt we are in a very serious situation. The most serious we’ve been in during this entire pandemic, given all the pressures on our health care system,” said Strang. “This is different than other waves. We’ve never before had hundreds of healthcare workers not able to work or so many cases that public health is no longer able to identify and closely manage each case and all their contacts.”
Strang urges everyone to reduce their contacts and follow the masking and social distancing requirements to keep themselves and the people around them safe.
Dr. Robert Strang appears virtually behind Premier Tim Houston at COVID briefing January 5, 2022. Photo Communications Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia students will be learning from home when classes resume Monday.
Premier Tim Houston announced the plan is to take a week to upgrade ventilation at some schools and improve access to three-ply masks, test kits and communication protocols before resuming in-class instruction on January 17.
“Teachers and staff you will be safe at work. Parents, your children will be safe at school, and students, you will be returning to a wonderful in-person learning environment surrounded by people that have your best interests at heart,” said Houston.
A notice from the South Shore Regional Centre for Education says schools will remain open for students who access supports and programs through learning centres.
The province announced new requirements for self-isolation at Wednesday’s COVID update and extended restrictions that have been in place since December 22nd until the end of January.
The new isolation times will be determined by a person’s age, household situation, and vaccination status.
Close contacts are now being told to get tested 72 hours following exposure and to watch for symptoms.
Wednesday marked the first time the number of new COVID cases dropped below 1,000 in a couple of days.
Nova Scotia is reporting 842 new cases with 45 of those people in hospital and eight in the ICU.
Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Robert Strang says high vaccination rates are protecting residents despite the high number of cases.
“Many people are questioning the vaccine, but I need to be clear, the protection we have from our very high level of vaccine coverage is what is keeping us as safe as we are right now,” said Strang. “I don’t even want to think about what omicron would look like if we didn’t have vaccination.”
Houston says he understands the frustration some Nova Scotians feel about the constantly changing rules.
The Premier says he trusts the people at public health who are using the best information available when coming up with plans to protect the people of the province.
“Nova Scotians have been incredible throughout this pandemic. You’ve set an example for the rest of the country,” said Houston. “Let’s keep doing it.”
Dr. Robert Strang. Photo Communications Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia’s top doctor says COVID restrictions announced last week are not enough as the province imposes harsher restrictions ahead of the holidays.
New measures set to go into effect Wednesday morning include reducing gatherings to 10 people, limits on in-person faith services and restricting singing to one person, businesses reduced to 50 percent capacity, licensed establishments must stop service at 11:00pm and close by midnight and long-term care facilities limiting visitors to two.
Dr. Robert Strang recognizes the impact these new restrictions will have during the holidays.
“What we are asking you to do now is probably the most difficult request we have made yet. This is a long two years and there’s a lot of disappointment about having to do this yet again in the holiday season. But that is our reality, and we have to deal with it,” said Strang.
With 83 percent of samples sent to the national testing lab coming back positive for omicron, Strang says the variant has become dominant strain of COVID in Nova Scotia.
The aggressive nature of omicron has impacted workers across all fields, including the medical profession, leading to staff shortages as employees self-isolate to prevent further spread.
Strang says Nova Scotians need to slow down and reduce their contacts.
“If we continue to have an ongoing high case numbers and building hospitalization rates, we reach a point where our healthcare system become very, very challenged from two perspectives: higher numbers of people requiring medical care in hospitals and worsening of an already existing challenges around getting the number of healthcare workers we need,’ said Strang.
He ended his prepared statement with a personal message to Nova Scotians.
“I want to end today speaking you from my heart. This is a worrisome sad and frustrating time. As your chief medical officer of health, I feel immense pressure to make the right decisions to protect Nova Scotians and to find the best balance to minimize harm from COVID and COVID control measures. I’m not gonna get it right every time and in retrospect, perhaps we did not get things quite right last week,” said Strang. “Things are changing fast with this new variant and there is limited information but please know that my recommendations and decisions always have the best interests of all Nova Scotians in mind.”
Dr. Robert Strang. Photo Communications Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is returning to tighter COVID restrictions Friday as the new omicron variant has reached the province and infection numbers climb.
At Monday’s update, Dr. Robert Strang says the restrictions will focus on masking, gathering limits and physical distancing.
Strang says he has been asked why, if our province has such high vaccination rates public health is panicked.
“There is no need to panic but there is a need to be cautious. We don’t know enough about this variant to wait and see what happens,” said Strang. “We cannot take the risk of wider spread into more vulnerable groups like seniors and those that are immunocompromised and potentially putting pressure on our health care system.
Beginning Friday December 18, the restrictions coming back in to play will see indoor and outdoor informal gatherings limited to 20 people from the same household or consistent social group.
Six feet of physical distance is required indoors and outdoors, except among that household or consistent social group.
Businesses can operate at the maximum capacity possible with physical distancing and food and liquor-licensed establishments must have physical distance between tables and a limit of 20 people per table.
People must be seated to remove their mask for eating or drinking.
Schools will implement a return to restrictions Tuesday.
In addition to masks again being required when physical distancing cannot be maintained, school concerts are cancelled, sports teams from different schools will no longer compete against each other and classes can no longer mix with other classes in the same schools.
The province reports 114 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday.
Public Health also announced rapid COVID tests are available in libraries across Nova Scotia.
Anyone testing positive from a rapid test must self-isolate and book a PCR test to verify the result.
Dr. Robert Strang. Photo Communications Nova Scotia
Students can look forward to an extended holiday break this year.
Premier Tim Houston made the announcement at Tuesday’s COVID briefing that public schools will return January 6 instead of January 4 as previously planned.
Houston says the education department proposed the extra time to provide public health officials more time to assess any potential COVID spread following the holiday break.
“The department, just on balance, looked at what’s happening around and said a couple more days is not going to hurt the academic calendar,” said Houston. “If we can get through the holidays and kind of reset starting in the new year, that’s better for students and teachers.”
Nova Scotia’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Robert Strang says the province’s vaccination rates are climbing.
Almost 82 percent of residents are fully vaccinated.
Strang expects those numbers will increase even more as parents have been snapping up vaccination appointment for their five- to eleven-year-olds.
“So far, almost 29,000 of 65,000 five- to eleven-year-olds, and that’s almost 45 percent, have had a first dose or an appointment scheduled,” said Strang. “That’s quite something, we’ve just begun immunizing a week ago.”
Strang is still urging Nova Scotians to be cautious and follow COVID protocols such as wearing masks, frequent hand-washing and social distancing.
He says that caution should be front of mind when making holiday travel plans as well.
“We’re certainly far more open than we were last Christmas but we’re still in a pandemic. For me it’s about, we need to slow down our lives and be careful about how active we are,” said Strang. “There’s more virus around in New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec than there is in Nova Scotia. So, now’s the time to enjoy the increased freedoms, if you will, and opportunities we have in Nova Scotia while we’re still in a pandemic. But also, let’s not go crazy.”
Strang says everyone still needs to be careful and cautious, even within the province, about how much travel, and how many social events and people they’re exposed to.
He encourages Nova Scotians to enjoy a much less restricted holiday season than last year.
Premier Tim Houston. Photo Communications Nova Scotia
Premier Tim Houston calls recent comments by an Amherst pastor appalling and disgusting.
Nova Scotia public health officials have traced three deaths from COVID-19 back to a faith group meeting held between October 25 and 29 by the pastor of the Gospel Light Baptist Church in Amherst, Robert Smith.
In a sermon posted online November 14th, Smith acknowledged the three deaths calling them, “part of God’s plan.”
Houston didn’t hold back in his response.
“The comments downplaying the seriousness of what’s happening, the comments minimizing the loss of life are completely unacceptable and totally disgusting.”
Following an investigation, Smith has been fined $2,422, the maximum allowed under the Health Protection Act.
Chief medical officer of health Dr. Robert Strang shared the Premier’s outrage.
“I am both angry and frustrated,” said Strang. “People chose not to get vaccinated, they gathered with both vaccinated and unvaccinated people against existing rules, and these choices have had significant impacts upon others.”
Dr. Robert Strang. Photo Communications Nova Scotia
The faith gathering has been linked to the outbreak of COVID at the East Cumberland Lodge long-term care home. According to public health, the home has had 31 residents and 10 staff test positive for COVID-19, and two of the infected residents have died. Another death in Northern Zone has also been linked to the gathering.
Dr. Strang also announced during Wednesday’s COVID briefing that over 80 percent of Nova Scotians are now double vaccinated.
He praised Nova Scotians for the high vaccination rates but had strong words for those who choose not to get their shots.
“To those who could be vaccinated but aren’t, who are focussing only on themselves, believing misinformation and false narratives and more and more reacting with inappropriate anger, shame on you,” said Strang. “You want to share in the benefits of Nova Scotia’s strong COVID response but you’re not willing to carry your share of the work.”
