Updated Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines for people 12 and older are now available in New Brunswick and doses for young children are expected to arrive next week, according to the Department of Health.
About 22,000 New Brunswickers have rolled up their sleeves to receive a dose of Moderna’s latest COVID-19 vaccine since it became available on Oct. 16, spokesman Sean Hatchard said.
Pfizer’s Comirnaty and Moderna’s Spikevax are designed to target the XBB. 1. 5 subvariant of Omicron, but evidence shows they also offer strong coverage unlike other circulating strains, such as EG. 5.
Demand for updated vaccines has been strong, said Brian Greenfield, a pharmacist and co-owner of Guardian Ross Drug in Fredericton.
“I think from feedback from some of the patients that are coming in, it looks like there are a lot of COVID cases right now. So I think it’s time to develop that point of coverage a little bit more,” he said. .
New Brunswick’s COVID-19 threat index has more than doubled in a week and is now that of the country, according to an infectious disease researcher and co-founder of COVID-19 Resources Canada.
The province’s score rose to 22. 8 on Monday, with about one in 10 people newly infected, Tara Moriarty posted on social media. The national average is 21. 2 and an estimated one in 19 Canadians is infected.
New Brunswick also recorded 3 more COVID deaths between Oct. 8 and Oct. 14, as shown by 57 hospitalizations and more than 150 new cases via PCR. There are also 14 lab-proven outbreaks, according to Tuesday’s Respiratory Watch report.
Updated vaccines should be given to anyone six months of age and older, as long as at least six months have passed since the last COVID dose or infection.
Greenfield estimates that the three branches of his pharmacy in Fredericton have each been administered between 60 and 80 updated Moderna Spikevax vaccines over the past week.
“It’s been interesting. For example, we didn’t order enough for the first week simply because there were more orders than we expected,” he said. “But now we’re playing catch-up. “
“We didn’t fall short,” he said. We may have done more and had to monitor our stock the first week to make sure we weren’t stockpiling more of the vaccine we had. “
Its pharmacies serve a wide diversity of people, he said, not just those most at risk.
Most people seem satisfied with Moderna or Pfizer, according to Greenfield.
“There are other people who have a preference. If they haven’t been challenged with a preference, they tend to stick with that one,” he said.
But he described the vaccines as “interchangeable” and encourages others to get the one they can first.
Anne Marie Picone, interim executive director of the New Brunswick Pharmacists Association, said both vaccines are “equally effective. “
“We remind other people that if they have any expressed concerns, they let their pharmacist or other number one health care provider know, but in general, our advice, based on Public Health advice, is to take the first vaccine available. “he said in an emailed statement.
For Americans ages 12 to 29 who have never received the COVID-19 vaccine, Public Health recommends the Pfizer Comirnaty XBB. 1. 5 vaccine “because of its reduction in myocarditis or pericarditis (inflammation of the center or its outer lining). center). “
Otherwise, other people over the age of five get a dose of Moderna or a dose of Pfizer, regardless of their COVID vaccination history.
For children six months to less than five years of age who have never won a COVID-19 vaccine, Public Health recommends that they get two doses of Moderna or 3 doses of Pfizer. If they have won one or more COVID-19 vaccines, they receive one dose of the updated Moderna vaccine or one or two doses of the updated Pfizer vaccine, depending on the number of previous doses.
It is not yet known when the updated Novavax vaccine might be available. Health Canada is still reviewing the protein-based vaccine.
Health Canada approved Moderna’s updated Spikevax vaccine on Sept. 12 and Pfizer’s updated Comirnaty vaccine on Sept. 28, to protect people six months of age and older.
“As we have observed throughout the pandemic, vaccination is our most productive defense against COVID-19 because it can help decrease the risk of severe headaches and hospitalizations,” the Health Department’s Hatchard said in an emailed statement.
XBB. 1. 5 vaccination in New Brunswick, October 14-23
*Source: Ministry of Health
“Public Health recommends that all New Brunswickans six months of age and older get an updated vaccine, as long as they have not received a dose or had a COVID-19 infection in the six months after” and “strongly recommends” an updated vaccine. vaccine for those who are most at risk.
People can book an appointment electronically online or by calling or visiting a pharmacy.
New Brunswickers must also electronically book their flu shot, which can be administered at the same time as the COVID vaccine.
The loose flu vaccine is for all New Brunswickers six months of age and older, and those 65 and older should get a higher dose to provide greater protection.
More than 31,000 people have been vaccinated against the flu since Oct. 4, according to figures provided by the department.
Public Relations, CBC P. O. P. Box 500, Station To Toronto, ON Canada, M5W 1E6
Toll Free (Canada only): 1-866-306-4636
It is a precedent for CBC to create products that are available to everyone in Canada, adding others with visual, auditory, motor and cognitive challenges.
Closed captioning and described videos are available for many CBC systems featured in CBC Gem.