N.B. COVID-19 roundup: 2 COVID-related deaths, no plans to offer 4th doses

New Brunswick recorded two more COVID-related deaths Thursday and has no immediate plans to offer a fourth dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to the general population, the Department of Health says.

The new deaths include a person in their 90s in the Bathurst region, Zone 6, and a person in their 70s in the Miramichi region, Zone 7, the COVID-19 dashboard shows.

There are 88 people in hospital, down one from Wednesday, including six in intensive care, a decrease of two, and two of them on ventilators, down one.

The seven-day average of COVID-related hospitalizations increased to 82 from 79, while the seven-day average of people requiring intensive care remained steady for a third straight day at four.

Fourth doses are currently only available and recommended for immunocompromised New Brunswickers aged 12 and older, if at least five months have passed since their third dose.

A complete list of the medical conditions and treatments that would result in a person being considered moderately to severely immunocompromised is available online.

"There are no plans, at this time, to promote fourth doses for the general population," said department spokesperson Gail Harding.

"This is because third doses, or 'boosters,' for those who are not immunocompromised provide sufficient coverage against COVID-19 infection," she said in an emailed statement.

She did not immediately respond to questions about what will happen when the effectiveness of those doses wanes, or if another variant emerges.

New Brunswick is set to lift all COVID-19 restrictions, including mask mandates and gathering limits, on March 14, when the emergency order ends.

"New Brunswickers know the steps they need to take to prevent getting COVID-19 themselves, and to prevent passing it on to others who are at high risk of serious illness, hospitalization or death," said Harding.

"Vaccination is critical to reducing the spread and we believe that the public understands the science, and benefits, behind vaccination."

As of Thursday, 50.2 per cent of eligible New Brunswickers have received their COVID-19 vaccine booster dose, up from 50.1 per cent, 87.1 per cent have received two vaccine doses, unchanged, and 92.9 per cent have received one dose, up from 92.8 per cent.

"New Brunswickers continue to show up, and get vaccinated and boosted," said Harding.

"Going forward, we will continue to promote the importance of vaccination and engage our stakeholders and community partners in promoting our immunization efforts." She did not elaborate.

Demand has 'fallen off the cliff'

Paul Bowman, a pharmacist and owner of Bowman's Pharmasave in Fredericton, said he plans to "wind down" his vaccination clinic over the next couple of weeks.

"We've got to the stage where everyone that pretty much has wanted the vaccine has had their first, second and if eligible, third dose," he said.

Bowman plans to use up the vaccines he has left, but won't order any more because he worries they'll just expire.

Demand has "pretty much just sort of fallen off the cliff" in recent days, he said, and that's "fairly common across the board" at other pharmacy clinics too.

Bowman suspects a combination of factors have contributed to the decreased uptake, including the province announcing its plans Feb. 24 to abandon all restrictions.

"I'm sure that might play into it a little bit," he said. Some people "feel more comfortable now with Public Health loosening restrictions."

Pandemic fatigue is another. "A lot of people just want to move on and get on with their lives."

In addition, many cases of the Omicron variant have been "milder," said Bowman. "So people aren't so scared or worried about COVID, compared to what they might have been six months ago."

They might know someone who contracted Omicron and didn't fall "overtly ill," so they might feel they don't need their booster dose.

But Bowman encourages anyone who's eligible to get their booster, saying it helps prevent hospitalization and severe disease.

I think that the pandemic has taught us not to look too far ahead because, you know, we work with the best information that we have at the time.- Paul Bowman, pharmacist

If demand picks up again, he'll order more vaccines. He doesn't expect that to happen, he said, but notes the future is difficult to predict.

"I think that the pandemic has taught us not to look too far ahead because, you know, we work with the best information that we have at the time. When we first got the first dose, I don't think anyone was thinking third dose, and then that became commonplace."

"It doesn't look like a fourth dose will be coming for the general population … But you know, who knows what the next six to 12 months will hold?"

For now, Bowman said it will be nice for his small pharmacy team to "take a breath" and get back to normal day-to-day operations.

"It's certainly been busy, but it was nice to be able to do our part to kind of keep New Brunswickers safe."

COVID boosters could become like flu shots

Rod Russell, a professor of virology and immunology at Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador, believes annual COVID boosters could be on the horizon, much like the annual flu shot.

That's because immunity wanes.

"We know that at least for a few months after your last shot, you know there may be some protection from actual infection, with Omicron, for example. But it's pretty clear that three to six months after your shot, you know, you can get infected again," he said.

New variants could also emerge.

Right now, people who have had three doses should have "pretty good protection" against any variant that might come along — "hopefully," said Russell.

The vaccines have been less effective with Omicron than previous variants, but are still offering protection.

"Even if there's breakthrough infection, even if you can get infected three or four months after you got your shot, there's no doubt that the immune response that you're making to the vaccine is … keeping the severity of the disease down."

Russell said that in some ways, it's like we're back where we were a year ago with vaccination.

"Most people were going to be OK if they got infected. But we were all encouraged to get vaccinated to protect the others. And we're there again now because the vulnerable people are still vulnerable."

Most of the COVID-related deaths are still in older people who "may not have responded so well to the vaccine," he said.

And children under five are still unable to get vaccinated, although most seem to "do OK" as long as they have a healthy immune system, said Russell.

"But some children do get sick, and that's the thing that you, as a parent, you know, you always worry that, well, what if your child is the exception?"

'Do you want to protect you … or do you want to protect others?'

Russell believes part of the reason vaccine uptake might be low is because "a lot of people are just saying, 'Well, I have enough protection from two shots. I don't need a third one to protect me.'

"But that's the point right here — what do you want? Do you want to protect you … or do you want to protect others?"

In his opinion, everyone who is eligible should get boosted to protect others because as we move to the "learn to live with it" phase of the pandemic, with restrictions easing up across Canada, the vulnerable will become more vulnerable.

"I agree that we have to move on because this virus is not going away. We can't keep hiding from it forever. … We have to get back to some sort of normal living," he said, pointing to the negative mental health impacts of lockdowns and restrictions.

"But I acknowledge and I sympathize with people who are truly vulnerable, or people who were living with vulnerable people in their family because, you know, I can see why they're frustrated and they feel like they've been forgotten."

Breakdown of hospitalizations and cases

Of the 88 people in hospital, as of Thursday, 41 were admitted for COVID-19 and 47 were admitted for something else when they tested positive for the virus.

A person aged 19 or under is among those in hospital. There are also four people in their 20s, five in their 30s, seven in their 40s, six in their 50s, 19 in their 60s, 16 in their 70s, 19 in their 80s, and five in their 90s.

A person in their 20s is the youngest in ICU. The others include two in their 40s, one is in their 50s, and two in their 70s.

There are now 528 health-care workers off the job, isolating after testing positive for COVID-19, an increase of seven. These include 288 with Horizon Health Network, 168 with Vitalité Health Network, and 72 with Extra-Mural and Ambulance New Brunswick.

Hospital occupancy increased to 92 per cent from 91 per cent, while ICU occupancy decreased to 76 per cent from 77 per cent.

Public Health confirmed 391 new cases of COVID-19 through lab-based PCR tests Wednesday, putting the active case count at 3,717, up from 3,633.

An additional 626 people self-reported testing positive on rapid tests.

The regional breakdown of PCR-confirmed cases includes:

Moncton region, Zone 1

• 133 new cases and 1,289 active cases

Saint John region, Zone 2

• 93 new cases and 813 active cases

Fredericton region, Zone 3

• 71 new cases and 832 active cases

Edmundston region, Zone 4

• 16 new cases and 174 active cases

Campbellton region, Zone 5

• 13 new cases and 128 active cases

Bathurst region, Zone 6

• 46 new cases and 328 active cases

Miramichi region, Zone 7

• 19 new cases and 153 active cases

A total of 736,713 PCR tests have been conducted to date, including 1,616 on Wednesday.

New Brunswick has had 38,546 cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, with 34,519 recoveries so far and 308 COVID-related deaths.