N.L. reports 27 new COVID-19 cases as booster demand outstrips supply

Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting 27 new cases of COVID-19 for the second consecutive day, raising the number of active cases in the province to 175.

Ten of the reported cases have been found in the Central Health region of Newfoundland. Seven cases are connected to a previous case, while the other three are under investigation.

There are nine cases in the Eastern Health region. Two are connected to a previous case. three are travel-related and four are under investigation.

There are also eight cases in the Western Health region, including five cases in people under the age of 20. Seven are contacts of previous cases, while one is under investigation.

The province also reported six new recoveries from the virus Tuesday. No one is currently in hospital due to COVID-19, and a total of 365,434 COVID tests have now been completed across Newfoundland and Labrador an additonal 2,779 since Monday.

Eastern Health officials also shared a number of potential COVID-19 exposure notices Tuesday. Anyone who visited the following locations at the times listed should book a COVID-19 test.

• Little Sparrow, 2 Hill O'Chips, St. John's on Dec. 15 from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
• GoodLife Fitness, 12 Merchant Drive, Mount Pearl on Dec. 15 and 16 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
• Goodlife Fitness at Atlantic Place, 215 Water Street, St. John'son Dec. 16 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Jasmine's Restaurant, 1 Dunn's Road, MountPearlon Dec.16from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
• Velvet Club, 208 Water Street, St. John's on Dec.17from 11 p.m to 2 a.m.
• Paul Reynolds Community Centre,35 Carrick Drive, St. John's onDec. 18from 1 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Push for boosters

As case counts rise, the scrambleto getCOVID-19 vaccine booster shots in Newfoundland and Labrador continued on Tuesdayas long lines formed outside of some pharmacies.

For the second day in a row, theShoppers Drug Mart on Lemarchant Road in St. John's was packed with people lining upeven before the pharmacy opened.

It mirrored the scene on Monday, when people waited for hours outside of the drugstore hoping to obtain the third booster shot to protect themselves from the fast-moving Omicron virus variant.

"Before I came I actually saw a picture of the line here from yesterday, but I was hoping it wouldn't be this bad," said Roger White, as he waitedhis turn in line.

"I just want to get it as soon as I can, get it out of the way [so] I don't have to think about it."

Tuesday marked Day 2 for Kevin Hedges in trying to get his booster.Hedges was too late to the lineup on Monday, so hetried his luck againTuesday morning.

"I don't have a car here, so I walked a couple of kilometres to get here," he said.

"It's fine, it's worth it. The booster will definitely improve the the efficacy."

According to the provincialDepartment of Health and Community Services, 28,184 people in N.L.had received a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of Monday.

Feeling the pressure

Meanwhile, the group representing pharmacists in Newfoundland and Labradorsays its members arefeeling a burden since the announcement of theCOVID-19 vaccine booster rollout plan.

"It's been a very stressful week in the pharmacy world,"Janice Audeau,president of the Pharmacists Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (PANL), told CBC Radio's St. John's Morning Show Tuesday.

"The supply is improving. Last week was very tough to try and get any. There was an additional 20,000 doses of vaccine that arrived in the province on Saturday, and those have beendistributed through each of the [regional health authorities]and now making their way into pharmacies."

Pharmacists areurging people to be patient asthey continue toreceivedeliveries. There has been a lag between when supplies land in the provinceandwhen the doses are actually distributed.

Audeau said more doses are expected either Tuesday or Wednesday.

"The RHA has to distribute all of the orders, then they have to get delivered to pharmacies," she said.

Audeausaid pharmacies are doing what they can, andit's her understanding there will be a ramp up in public health clinics to help lighten the load. She said she doesn't have the specifics of when that might happen.

Audeau also said the change in booster time line, from 26 weeks since the second dose to 22 weeks, means about 170,000 peopleare eligible for the booster right now.

"We're not set up to do mass vaccinations," she said."We're certainly willing to do our part and help."

CBC News has asked the Department of Health when large-scalepublic health clinics are expected to return.

In the Labrador-Grenfell Health region, efforts arebeing increased to provide vaccinations and boosters to residents in Labrador and at the top of Newfoundland's Northern Peninsula.

In a media release, the authoritysaid in addition to regularly scheduled clinics peoplecan also callcommunity clinics to schedule an appointment on the following dates:

• Cartwright on Thursday.
• Forteauon Thursday, with further appointments onDec. 29 and Dec. 30.
• Charlottetown on Thursday.
• Mary's Harbour on Wednesday.
• St. Lewis on Dec. 30.
• Churchill Falls on Dec. 31.
• Port Hope Simpson on Dec. 29.

80 per cent protection against Omicron

Rod Russell, avirologist and immunologist at Memorial University, said it's known that a third dose of vaccine offersbetter protection against the variant than the initial two doses, and moving the timeline to 22 weeks after a second dose allows more people a faster road to protection.

"Personally, I think it could be moved ahead further, but I think this is also affected by supply of vaccine and availability of resources for people to be able to administer vaccine," he said.

Russell said a booster dose offers about "twice as much" protection against Omicron. He said two doses giveabout 30 to 40 per cent protection against the variant, but three doses offer about 80 per cent.

Omicron is roughly three to four times more transmissible than the Delta variant, Russell said, and reduces the levels of antibodies by 20 to 40 times compared to Delta in response to the vaccine.

"There's no doubt you can still get infected," he said.

"We know now that these vaccines are not great at protecting you from getting infected with the virus, for Omicron for sure, but of course it's all still about keeping people from getting too sick."

The big question that remains is the severity of illness through anOmicron infection,Russell said.

He said early data from South Africa suggested Omicron may be more of a mild infection than previous variants, but there are also some suggestions that that might not be the case. He said more about the severity of infections should be known within the next week or two.

"Regardless of whether or not this is a mild infection for most people, we have to take it seriously, at least right now," he said.

"Even if half as many people end up in the hospital, the fact that four times as many people are getting infected means that we can still have hospital overload."

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