Nearly one month after receiving its first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, Nova Scotia has expanded its immunization rollout to include health-care workers in Cape Breton and long-term care residents at Northwood Halifax.
It’s an especially important milestone for the long-term care facility, which experienced the most significant outbreak of the disease in the province in 2020, with 345 cases involving 246 residents and 99 employees.
“I was excited about it,” said resident Audrey Wiseman, who received her first dose without a flinch, alongside fellow resident Ann Hicks.
“I won’t be able to get the COVID, I hope, and that means a lot because I saw quite a few that had it and didn’t quite come through it.”
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Last year, 53 people died of complications related to the outbreak at Northwood Halifax, prompting a provincial review and a class action lawsuit.
Both Wiseman and Hicks said they were pleased with the speed and efficiency of the vaccine rollout, and made it clear they felt safe at the long-term care home during the second wave of the pandemic.
“I was on a floor where most of the people had it and I never did get it,” Hicks explained. “I was isolated for several weeks but I never did have any problem with it, so they were doing their best to keep people safe.”
To date, more than 2,500 Nova Scotians have received their first dose of the vaccine, but Monday’s immunization clinic at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital was the first held in the province’s Eastern Zone.
“There’s a nice electricity almost in the air around the regional hospital in Sydney,” said Mike MacArthur, who co-leads the Eastern Zone immunization clinic.
“We were very fortunate in a planning perspective to be able to follow the establishment of the clinic in Halifax to see how it worked, to really get a sense as to the intricacies of a clinic setup.”
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The province is following the National Advisory Committee on Immunization guidelines, vaccinating health-care workers who work on the frontlines, long-term care residents and staff, and the elderly first.
In the second phase of the program, other health-care and essential workers who are not directly exposed to the virus will be vaccinated.
The third phase, slated to begin in late spring or the summer, will include the general public.
More to come.