New Brunswick will likely reach its goal of 75% of the eligible population with a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine today.
As of Sunday’s reported numbers, just 2,485 more people need to receive their first dose in order to hit the 75% target.
75% of the population aged 12 and over is roughly equal to 66% of the estimated current population of all New Brunswickers.
The first stage of the Path to Green now includes the lifting of isolation requirements for those travelling from Cumberland County into New Brunswick. Nova Scotia has not yet announced a similar move, so the trip into Cumberland County still triggers two weeks of isolation in that province.
AS FIRST DOSES SLOW DOWN, SECOND DOSES RAMP UP
It’s been a busy week in the province’s vaccine rollout. Over 68,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were administered in the province since last Sunday. That’s the highest weekly number since the rollout began.
But only about 39,000 of those were first doses.
After limping along at a few thousand doses per week, the second dose rollout is picking up steam, with about 29,000 people getting a second dose in the past week.
Just over 75,000 people have their second dose of a vaccine so far. That’s 9.6% of the full population, and 10.8% of the 12 and over population.
The province has set a goal of at least 20% of those aged 12 and older with a second shot by July 2, in order to reach the second phase of its Path to Green plan, which includes lifting border restrictions with all of Nova Scotia.
To reach the third and final goal for the Path to Green plan, slated for the beginning of August, another 442,000 people need to get a second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. If that happens, the premier has promised to lift all public health restrictions.
THE CASE UPDATE
There was seven new cases of COVID-19 in the province on Sunday, and all have been traced to previous cases.
Three of the new cases are in the Fredericton region, and four are in the Bathurst region.
There are now 97 active cases of COVID-19 in New Brunswick, which includes one person isolating outside of the province.
Zone 1 has had no new cases since Thursday, and now has 21 active cases of the disease.
Testing numbers for Saturday reflect the typical weekend drop in testing, with just shy of 700 tests completed, with 377 of those in Zone 1.
ATLANTIC CANADA & CUMBERLAND
In Nova Scotia, there were eight new cases of COVID-19 reported on Sunday, and the total number of active cases in that province has further dropped to 140.
The Cumberland Health Network had no new cases for the tenth day in a row. There is just one active case of COVID-19 in Cumberland County.
PEI reported no new cases over the weekend, and has 4 active cases of COVID-19.
Newfoundland and Labrador reported 1 new case on Sunday and that case has been traced to a previous one. That province now has 35 active cases of COVID-19.
