Immunization moves to nursing homes
HALIFAX — Nova Scotia's COVID-19 vaccine rollout has moved into long-term care.
Residents of Northwood's Halifax and Bedford campuses received Moderna shots on Monday.
Ann Hicks, 77, laughed as people gathered at the Halifax campus broke into applause after she was the first to receive a shot.
"This is the start of our career," Hicks joked to Northwood nurse Amanda Parsons in a media pool video distributed by Communications Nova Scotia. Other media were not allowed into the event as a public health precaution.
The move into nursing homes follows the immunization of frontline healthcare workers who work in COVID-19 settings.
In the coming days, residents of Shannex's Parkstone facility in Halifax and the Ocean View Continuing Care Centre in Eastern Passage will be immunized.
The viral disease killed 53 Northwood residents in the spring.
Josie Ryan, executive director of long-term-care at Northwood, expects to have most of the residents vaccinated by week's end.
"We're hoping that we'll be able to do at least 100 to 150 per day," she said.
By the end of this week, Nova Scotia will have received 23,000 doses of vaccine in the rollout that began in mid-December, chief medical officer of health Dr. Robert Strang said at a news briefing Friday. Under the two-shot regimen, that's enough to immunize 11,500 Nova Scotians.
"Our vaccine rollout takes another important step today with the first clinic at a longterm care facility — Northwood's Halifax campus — and one at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital," said Premier Stephen McNeil in a news release Monday. "Our healthcare professionals are working hard to distribute the vaccine as quickly as possible. We can support them by being patient and continuing to follow all the public health measures that help us contain the virus."
ACADIA STUDENT INFECTED
On Sunday evening, Acadia University announced that a student who lives on campus had tested positive for COVID-19.
The case is related to travel and the student has been quarantining in residence as required, an advisory on the university's website said.
“The student has not experienced symptoms, and we are grateful to them for following health advice for testing and quarantine. Nova Scotia Public Health is monitoring the situation. When an individual is diagnosed with COVID-19, Nova Scotia Public Health determines who they may have had close contact with and provides guidance to those individuals. Contact tracing is vital to help limit the spread of COVID-19. The University will provide help to the individual, and we wish them good health. We also want to reassure them that their privacy will be respected.”
The advisory said Acadia is already following intensive cleaning measures on campus but the positive case may require additional disinfection and access to buildings may be temporarily restricted.
The Acadia infection in the western health zone was one of five new cases reported Monday in Nova Scotia.
Two other cases are in the central zone and are related to travel outside of Atlantic Canada. One is a student at Dalhousie University in Halifax who lives off campus.
And there are two cases in the northern zone, one related to travel outside of Atlantic Canada. The person is self-isolating, as required. The other case is a close contact of a previously reported case.
With more resolved infections reported, the number of active cases has decreased by two to 26.
"Yesterday we reported no new cases of COVID19, which is good news, but it is not an indication that COVID-19 is no longer a risk," Strang said in the news release. "It is up to all of us to follow the public health measures to make sure we limit the spread of the virus."
Nova Scotia Health Authority's labs completed 2,193 Nova Scotia tests on Sunday.
Since Oct. 1, Nova Scotia has completed 129,173 tests. There have been 444 positive COVID-19 cases and no deaths. No one is in hospital. Cases range in age from under 10 to over 70. Four hundred and eighteen cases are now resolved.