Vaccine rollout is going swimmingly in Nova Scotia according to the provincial government. As of the most recent update on May 25, over 48 percent of Nova Scotians have had at least one dose. As immunization moves forward, Nova Scotians continue to ask complex questions about the vaccine. Should people with pre-existing conditions be prioritized? […]
Victoria Walton
Victoria was a full-time reporter with The Coast from April 2020 until mid-2022, when the CBC lured her away. During her Coast tenure, she covering everything from COVID-19 to small business to politics and social justice. Originally from the Annapolis Valley, she graduated from the University of King’s College School of Journalism in 2017.
Posted inNews + Opinion
How to reschedule your second COVID-19 vaccine dose in Nova Scotia
On Tuesday, May 25, Nova Scotia announced a plan to speed up getting second doses into arms, thanks to the fact the province has more vaccine supply than it anticipated back in April when it set the 105-day interval between doses. Here are two graphs from the province, showing the old and the new plans. […]
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Small businesses asked to stay patient while big box stores profit
On Friday, May 21, premier Iain Rankin said more funding would be added to the third round of the small business impact grant, which was first announced on May 4. “Today we’ve announced another $17 million,” he said at the daily C19 press conference. “That’s going to provide more help, it’s a total of […]
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Rapid testing numbers are down, and that’s a problem
At the beginning of Halifax’s third wave of COVID-19, cases rose and so did testing numbers. Three of the biggest rapid testing sites—the Halifax Convention Centre, Alderney Gate Library and Halifax Central Library—were swabbing about 1,800 noses each, per day. Lisa Barrett, the infectious disease specialist who heads up several rapid testing sites across HRM, […]
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Two swabs for the price of one
Nova Scotia has been a national leader in asymptomatic testing through the pandemic. It was among the first provinces to make rapid tests widely available to anyone who wanted one—even if that person has none of the classic runny nose/headache/fever/cough/sore throat/trouble breathing symptoms of COVID. The rapid testing program started December 7, 2020, and last […]
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Rankin reveals longer lockdown
On Wednesday, May 19, premier Iain Rankin announced a longer lockdown for the province of Nova Scotia. While the official press release says “the second week of June,” the premier more specifically said June 9 at today’s COVID-19 update. “I’m sorry to say that we are going to be extending the shutdown in the province […]
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10 jobs available in the fight against COVID-19
At this point in the pandemic, Nova Scotia has over 100 COVID patients in hospital, more than 1,000 people sick with the disease and thousands getting tested every day. To manage, Nova Scotia Health needs a lot of resources, from ICU beds to dozens of new employees. In early May, around the same time hospitalizations […]
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Why 75% herd immunity is really 85% vaccinated
For months, Canadians have heard whispers of 75 percent. That’s the magic number, the percentage of Canadians who would need to be vaccinated before the country begins to re-open, according to Health Canada. Once we get there, likely sometime in the fall, “then local public health will be able to lift more measures and you […]
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Backlog bewilderment
I t was almost two weeks ago, on Friday, April 30, that news of a backlog first made its way to the daily COVID-19 update. At the time, public health top doc Robert Strang said Nova Scotians had turned out for testing in such high numbers, there was a slowdown in processing them. “Because of […]
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Strang’s flip-flop on AstraZeneca
Update: At the COVID briefing on Friday, May 14, Strang changed his tone when talking about people who had received AstraZeneca, reassuring them that they had done the right thing by getting the first vax available to them, that they were safe and giving them information about how to monitor for potential blood clot symptoms. […]
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Tracking all of Nova Scotia’s COVID deaths
There have been 71 COVID-19 deaths in the province since the virus first reared its ugly head here. The province has released only sparse details on the ages and locations of each person who died—while at the same time telling the public they’re not just statistics, but people with lives, families and stories. What can […]
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There are ‘hundreds and hundreds’ of COVID-19 exposure sites in HRM
In the middle of April, when the number of new infections was under 10 per day, the list of places where you could catch COVID seemed endless. A typical “potential exposure” warning from the Nova Scotia Health Authority on April 17 included a mall, a grocery store, a Walmart, two fast-food places and a library, […]
