N.B. COVID-19 roundup: 90 new cases, vaccine doses for young children arrive next week

New Brunswick has 90 new cases of COVID-19 and is expected to receive the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for young children next week, Public Health announced Friday afternoon.

COVID-19 vaccination eligibility in the province will be expanded to include children aged five to 11 as soon as the special child vaccines arrive, according to a news release.

Health Canada approved the Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine for children in this age group Friday morning, and the National Advisory Committee on Immunization has recommended its use.

Until Friday, only people aged12 orolder were approved for vaccination.

"Today's approval means we are one step closer to further protecting our children and our communities,"Health Minister Dorothy Shephardsaid in a statement.

There are 54,000 children aged five to 11 in New Brunswick.

More than2.9 million doses of Comirnaty enoughto providea first dose to every eligible Canadian childwill arrive in Canada by the end of the week,Public Services and Procurement MinisterFilomena Tassisaid.

New Brunswick'srolloutof the pediatric vaccines will be similar to the existing system, with regional health authority vaccination clinics and participating pharmacies both playing a role, according to the release fromPublic Health.

Details will be announced next week.

The provincewill also provideinformation and resources on vaccine safety and availability in the coming days to help parents and guardiansmake informed decisions, Shephard said.

"With the approval of the pediatric vaccine now in place, we are encouraging New Brunswickers to start having family conversations about how vaccination works and how it protects the health and well-being of our families, friends and classmates," Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health, said in a statement.

Clinical trials showed thePfizer-BioNTechvaccine was 90.7 per centeffective at preventing COVID-19 in younger childrenand that no serious side effects were identified, according to Health Canada.

"After a thorough and independent scientific review of the evidence, the department has determined that the benefits of this vaccine for children between fiveand 11 years of age outweigh the risks," Health Canada wrote in a release Friday.

Health Canada's chief medical adviser Dr. Supriya Sharma said the approval comes at a "criticaltime" in the pandemic, with incident rates among children under 12 rising during the third and fourth waves.

In New Brunswick, atotal of 985children under age 10have tested positive for COVID-19 to date, according to the COVID-19 dashboard. Another 929 between the ages of 10 and 19 have also tested positive, the dashboard shows. How many of them are aged five to 11 is not indicated, nor is when they tested positive, but the majority of the infections have occurred since school started in September.

"While children are less likely to experience complications, they can still get very sick," Sharma told a briefing Friday. "Although the risk of severe illness is lower in children than in adults, it's still there.

"And rarely some children go on to develop multi-inflammatory syndrome in children, known as MIS-C, which has a very high risk [of] requiringhospitalization," she said.

MIS-Ccan be triggered by COVID-19, causing severe inflammation in organs such as the heart and kidneys weeks after an infection.Symptoms of MIS-C can include fever,rash, red eyes, abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea.

"Emerging data also suggests that children with COVID-19, regardless of the severity,can develop long COVID,or post-COVIDsymptoms that may continuefor months," said Sharma.

"And children, like adults, can spread the virus."

The Pfizer-BioNTechvaccine "provides another tool to protect Canadians and to the relief of many parents will help bring back a degree of normality to children's lives allowing them to more safely do the things that they have missed during the last 20 months," she said.

Pfizer-BioNTech'spediatric vaccineis delivered in dosesone-third the size of thosegiven to people 12 and older. Health Canada authorizeda two-dose regimen to be administered three weeks apart.

TheNational Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), however,recommends the spacing between doses be increased to at least eight weeks, as evidence has been growing that a longer interval generates a more robust immune response. The longer spacing mightalso help to decrease even further the risk of the rare side effectof myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle), NACI said.

A recent Angus ReidInstitute survey of Canadian parents with children aged five to 11found 51 per cent said they would immediately vaccinate their childrenwhen a pediatric dose becameavailable, while 23 per cent said they would never give their childrena COVID-19 vaccine and 18 per cent said they would eventually vaccinate but "wait a while."

In the Atlantic region, 50 per cent of respondents said they would get their childrenvaccinatedright away, while 15 per cent said they would not vaccinate their children and 25 per cent said they would wait.

There were 812 respondents to this question, including 128 in the Atlantic provinces.The online survey, which was commissioned and paid for by the Angus ReidInstitute, was conducted from Sept. 29 to Oct. 3.

Outbreak declared at Ridgewood Veterans Wing

A COVID-19 outbreak has been declared at Ridgewood Veterans Health Wing in Saint John, the Horizon Health Network announced Friday.

The 80-bed facility is forveterans who require long-term care.

There are two confirmed cases, both involving staff members, Horizon spokesperson Kris McDavid said in an emailed statement.

All patients are isolated to their rooms, he said.

The results of COVID-19 testing of patients and staff are pending, with another round of testing scheduled for Monday, McDavid said.

The outbreak isnot linked to any Remembrance Day services, according toMcDavid.

The first case was detected on Wednesday, he said.Public Health reported a potential public exposure to COVID-19 at the facilityat 422 Bay St., on that day.

Staff are following enhanced infection prevention and control guidelines, according to a news release issued by Horizon.

The designated support person program is suspended andexisting visitor restrictions remain in place.

In addition, there will be no patient admissions or transfers to or from Ridgewood.

Infection prevention and control"precautions are the best measures for reducing COVID-19 transmission,"Margaret Melanson, Horizon's vice-president of quality and patient-centred care, said in a statement.

"We are doing everything we can to ensure we are providing safe and quality care to our patients, clients and their families and protecting our health care workers."

Horizon said itunderstands it is difficult for families and friends to be separated from their loved ones and encourages peopleto use technology to connect with patients.

Staff are working diligently to provide care and comfort to patients during theoutbreak, it said.

37 cases at prison

There is a COVID-19 outbreak at Dorchester Penitentiary.

Thirty-fourinmates and three staff members fromthe medium-security unithave tested positive on either apolymerase chain reaction (PCR) labtest or a rapid test,Correctional Service Canada confirmed early Friday evening.

"We are closely monitoring the situation, and measures are in place to minimize the spread of the virus within the institution,"it said in a news release.

Contact tracing is ongoing and testing is being offered to inmates and staff within the medium-security unit.

"CSC is currently using rapid tests to help detect positive cases more quickly and take necessary actions accordingly," the release said.

The medium-security unit is rated to house397 male inmates,according to the CSC's website,while the minimum-security unit is rated to house302 inmates.

Nearly 86 per centof inmates in the medium-level security unit are fully vaccinated,and more than 88 per centhave received their first dose, according to the release.

CSC officials did not respond to a request for information Friday about when the first case was detected, where the infected inmates are being housed, or whether any require hospitalization.

The number of staff off workisolating because they've been identified as close contacts and any impact on operations is also unclear.

"This is an evolving situation and we will continue to apply infection prevention and control measures to prevent and contain the spread of COVID-19 and adapt based on public health advice," the release said.

CSC has increased cleaning and disinfecting throughout the prison,and provided staffwith face shields in addition to the medical masks they are inmates already wear.

People entering the prison continue to be screened for COVID-19.

In-person family visits are suspended, but video and telephone visits are available to inmates, the release said.

607 active cases

The 90 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed Friday and 49 recoveries put the province's active case count at 607.

Fifty-seven of the new cases are contacts of previously confirmed cases, Public Health said.

Twenty-eight peopleare in hospital because of the virus, including16in intensive care, an increase of two.

A total of87.3per centof New Brunswickers aged 12 or older are fully vaccinated, up from 87.1 per cent, and93.3per centhave received their firstdose, unchanged.

The regional breakdown of the new cases includes:

Moncton region, Zone 1 45 cases:

• A person 19 or under
• Three people 20 to 29
• 13 people 30 to 39
• Eight people 40 to 49
• Nine people 50 to 59
• Eight people 60 to 69
• Three people 70 to 79

Thirty-four of these cases are contacts of previously confirmed cases and 11 cases are under investigation.

Saint John region, Zone 2 21cases:

• Seven people 19 or under
• A person 20 to 29
• Two people 30 to 39
• A person 40 to 49
• Two people 50 to 59
• Five people 60 to 69
• Two people 70 to 79
• A person 90 or over

Fifteen of these cases are contacts of previously confirmed cases and six cases are under investigation.

Fredericton region, Zone 3 11cases:

• Three people 19 or under
• A person 20 to 29
• Four people 30 to 39
• Two people 40 to 49
• A person 50 to 59

Nine of these cases are under investigation and the other two are contacts of previously confirmed cases.

Edmundston region, Zone 4twocases:

• A person 30 to 39
• A person 50 to 59

Both of these cases are under investigation.

Miramichi region, Zone 7 11cases:

• Three people 19 or under
• A person 20 to 29
• Five people 30 to 39
• Two people 70 to 79

Six of these cases are contacts of previously confirmed cases and five cases are under investigation.

Atotal of 543,559 COVID-19 tests have been done to date, including 1,381 on Thursday.

New Brunswick has had7,512 confirmed cases of COVID-19since the beginningof the pandemic, including6,782 recoveries so far and 122 COVID-related deaths.

New household isolation rules take effect at 6 p.m.

All members of a household with a positive case of COVID-19 must isolate for up to 14 days, regardless of their vaccination status, effective at 6 p.m. Friday.

The new rule was announced Thursday by Premier Blaine Higgsto address where spread is occurring.

Household members who are fully vaccinated will be released from isolation with a negative PCR test on Day 5. A PCR test on Day 10 will also be required to confirm the negative result.

"As we have done throughout the pandemic, measures are put in place that strive to find a balance between having life as normal as possible while reducing the risk of COVID-19 cases overwhelming our hospital system," Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health, said in a statement Friday.

"Right now, a significant portion of new cases are from transmission within households, which is why we are adjusting our strategy to target that spread."

Anyone who violates a Public Health order to self-isolate faces a fine of between $480 and $20,400.

Circuit breakers end at 6 p.m.

The COVID-19 circuit breakers in the Moncton, Riverview and Dieppe areas of Zone 1 and in the Miramichi region, Zone 7,will end at 6 p.m. Friday.

All restrictions on private gatherings and on travel to and from these areas will be lifted.

The measures were in place to try to limit the spread of the virus and to reduce hospitalizations.

Zone 1 has been under a circuit breaker since Oct. 8, while the circuit breaker in Zone 7 was implemented on Nov. 12.

Cases confirmed at school, 2 child-care centres

A new case of COVID-19 has been confirmed at St. Stephen High School in the Saint John region, Zone 2, the COVID-19 dashboard shows.

There are now four schools actively impacted by the virus.

A total of 457cases have been confirmed at 125 schools since the beginning of the school year.

A case of COVID-19 has also been confirmed at Daley Day Care 2in the Moncton region, Zone 1, which was not previously affected, and at YMCA Afterschool - Moncton, alsoin Zone 1.

People whohave been in close contact with a confirmed case will be notified directly by Public Health or the child-care centre for contact tracing, Public Health said.

Since Sept. 7, 83early learning and child-care centres have had confirmed cases of COVID-19. The total number of cases has not been released.

Atlantic COVID roundup

Nova Scotia reported 27 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday and has 223 active cases. Fifteen people are in hospital with the virus, including seven in intensive care.

Newfoundland and Labrador confirmed four new cases and has 19 active cases.

Prince Edward Islandannounced three new casesand has 12active cases.

Public exposure notices

Public Healthissued several new public exposure notices Friday for the Moncton region, Zone 1,including theDr. Georges-L.-Dumont Hospital emergency department waiting room on Nov. 12, the Moncton Hospital's outpatient care clinic C on Nov. 12,andCanadian Plasma Resources on Nov. 10 and Nov. 12.

There are also new notices for the Saint John region, Zone 2, Edmundston region, Zone 4, and Miramichi region, Zone 7.

For the full list of new and previous public exposure notices, please visitthe provincial government's website.

People who have not been fully vaccinated at least 14 days prior to a possible exposure and who have symptoms should get a COVID lab test. They can book an appointmentonlineor call Tele-Care 811 and must isolate while waiting for their test result.

People who are not fully vaccinated and do not have symptomsare now being instructed to pick up anAt-Home COVID-19 Rapid Point of Care Test(Rapid POCT) screening kit. They do not need to isolate if they have not been directed by Public Health to do so.

All positive point-of-care test results must be confirmed with a laboratory polymerase chain reaction, orPCR, test.

It can take up to 14 days to test positive after being exposed to COVID-19, so even ifresults comeback negative, peopleshould continue to self-monitor for any symptoms and get tested immediately if any develop.

They should also avoid visiting settings with vulnerable populations, such as nursing homes, correctional facilities and shelters during that 14-day period.

For people who have been fully vaccinated at least 14 days prior to a possible exposure, Public Health recommends they monitor for symptoms for 14 days after the possible exposure and get a COVID lab test if symptoms develop.

They do not need to isolate while they wait for their test results.

If they do not have symptoms, they can pick up a rapid test kit and do not need to isolate.

What to do if you have a symptom

People concerned they might have COVID-19 cantake a self-assessment test online.

Public Health says symptoms of the illness have included a fever above 38 C, a new or worsening cough, sore throat, runny nose, headache, a new onset of fatigue, and difficulty breathing.

In children, symptoms have also included purple markings on the fingers and toes.

People with one of those symptoms should stay at home, call 811 or their doctor and follow instructions.