Vaccination of young children starting next week

The New Brunswick government will open access to vaccination for children aged six months to five years next week. He points out that COVID-19 is spreading a lot right now. However, vaccination has stagnated for several weeks in the county.

In the absence of ideas to boost vaccination against COVID-19, the New Brunswick government is opening its access to more people.

Acting Deputy Chief Medical Officer Yves Leger, referring to July 12, recalls: “We have opened eligibility for the second booster dose for those under 50. We will also open access to vaccination for children aged six months to 5 years starting next week.

On July 12, Health Canada announced that it had authorized this precaution by licensing the SpikeVax Moderna vaccine. New Brunswickers can schedule a first dose of this product for their very young children starting next week.

However, vaccination remained stagnant for several weeks in New Brunswick. On July 2, the government reported that 93.3% of the county’s eligible residents had received their first dose of COVID-19; 88.2% a second dose and 52.8% a booster dose. On July 23, these percentages were 93.3%, respectively. 88.3% and 53.1%.

“We take every opportunity we have to promote vaccination in the media,” says Dr. Leger. Especially in the current context, as we’re seeing an increase in COVID-19 activity across the county. “

He argues that vaccines help reduce the risk of infection and reduce the number of severe complications from the coronavirus (hospitalization and mortality) in particular.

active pandemic

The number of new positive cases appears to remain stable. On the other hand, we see that the number of admissions to new hospitals has increased even more. This number has been on the rise for a few weeks now,” comments Dr. Leger.

The number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 increased from 30 to 40 from July 17 to 23. The number of hospitalized patients suffering from this disease reached 116 patients in the previous week.

The highest rates of hospitalizations associated with COVID-19 are in people aged 70 to 89 years and those not protected by the vaccine.

There were 1,374 active cases of COVID-19 on July 23 in New Brunswick. Among the most recent sequenced random samples, 91% contained Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariables.

Five deaths from the coronavirus were recorded in the county from July 17 to 23, bringing the total number of deaths from the disease to 443.

Dr. Leger points out, “Covid-19 is not going to go away, it will stay with us. Sometimes this activity will increase, then decrease at other times. It will vary. So it is really important that people pay attention to the situation so that they can take the steps that they have learned.” the past two years to protect themselves.”

It calls for staying home when sick, wearing a mask in indoor public spaces, socializing outdoors, staying away from others and washing your hands.