Public health officials are warning Nova Scotians not to think we\u2019re out of the woods with the pandemic.<\/p>\n
The province\u2019s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Robert Strang says people are becoming complacent around social distancing and other measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though we talk about a pandemic, we\u2019re acting like we\u2019re not in a pandemic in Nova Scotia. That\u2019s important that we remind ourselves we need to be cautious. I recognize that COVID fatigue is real,\u201d said Strang. \u201cWe\u2019ve been at this for almost a year but as tired as everyone is, public health measures are as important now as they were last March and April.\u201d<\/p>\n
Three new cases of the coronavirus are being reported bringing the total number of active cases to 21.<\/p>\n
Strang cautioned people to keep their socializing and social circles to a minimum.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need people to slow down for the next two to three months,\u201d said Strang. \u201cWe need to still stay very focused on limiting our social activities, limiting the number of people, ideally [to] only a single social group of 10.\u201d<\/p>\n
Strang says the province expects to receive 14,700 doses of vaccine this week and vaccine deliveries are back on track to meet targets that were expected when deliveries were first announced.<\/p>\n
\u201cVaccine supply is expected to be steady with weekly shipments of at least 10,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine until the end of March,\u201d said Strang. \u201cMeaning that we are on target to meet the outcomes for the first 90 days of our vaccine strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Strang says he\u2019s heard requests for Nova Scotia to develop a vaccine passport to allow those that have been inoculated to be exempt from some of the COVID-19 protocols. He says the province will not be issuing proof of immunization cards or vaccine passports until more is known about the effectiveness of the vaccines.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that they\u2019re very effective against preventing clinical and symptomatic illness but we don\u2019t know yet whether they prevent asymptomatic transmission.\u201d<\/p>\n