N.L. reports 1 new case of COVID-19

Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting one new caseof COVID-19 on Thursday.

The person who tested positive for the coronavirus is a female between 20 and 39 years old in the Central Health region. She is a contact of a previous case, and is not connected to the cluster in that region.

With fournew recoveries, all in the Western Health region, there are 32active cases in the province.

There are two people in hospital due to the virus.

The active case breakdown is17 in the Western Health region, 10 in Central Health, four in Eastern Health, and one in Labrador-Grenfell Health.

2nd dose appointments cancelled for many, re-bookings start Monday

People in all four provincial health regions withappointmentsafter Aug. 6 for their second doses of a COVID-19 vaccine are getting cancellation notices. While some have been able to rebook over the last day, most will be able to rebook starting Monday. There must be at least eight weeks in between doses.

On Wednesday, the Eastern Health portal crashed as people tried to rebook appointments.

Mixing and matching vaccines is safe, said provincial Chief Medical Officer of HealthDr. Janice Fitzgerald, based on guidelines fromthe National Advisory Committee on Immunization.That includes interchanging the Pfizer-BioNTech and Modernadoses.People age12 to 18, however, will need to get Pfizer for their second shot, which is the same as their first.

Late Thursday, the immunization committee said provinces should stop using the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, even as second doses for people who have received a first shot.

• Committee says provinces should give AstraZeneca recipients a different vaccine for 2nd dose

As of Tuesday, according to the government's COVID-19 information page, 73 per cent of the eligible population had received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. In addition, nearly seven per cent of the eligible population is fully vaccinated.

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