N.B. lowers 4th dose eligibility as COVID claims 4 more lives, hospitalizations nearly double

All New Brunswickers 18 or older can now get a second COVID-19 booster dose if at least five months have passed since their last dose, the government announced Tuesday.

It comes as New Brunswick recorded four more COVID deaths in the past week, the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has nearly doubled, and almost 2,500 new infections were reported, newly released figures show.

The decision to lower fourth-dose age eligibility from 50 is based on increasing risk and is "aligned" with most Canadian jurisdictions, despite being ahead of federal advice, said Dr. Jennifer Russel, chief medical officer of health.

There are indications that New Brunswick is at the start of a period of "heightened activity" of COVID-19, driven by Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, she said, stopping short of calling it a new wave of the pandemic.

"Every jurisdiction has had a different experience with COVID. Some people are calling it the third wave of Omicron, some people are calling it the seventh wave. We here in New Brunswick are really sticking with our epidemiologist's recommendation around — this is week 27 of the 2022 COVID year, just like we report on the flu year."

The province wants its COVID reporting to be consistent with other respiratory diseases, Russell said.

But she didn't rule out using the term "wave" again at some point.

"I'm not going to say never. I'm just not using it today."

The highly transmissible BA.5 has quickly overtaken Omicron BA.2 as the dominant strain in the province, representing 45 per cent of the most recent random samples sent for sequencing, compared to 23 per cent, the province's COVIDWatch report indicates.

BA.4 is a close second, representing 32 per cent of the samples.

Both BA.5 and BA.4 have shown an ability to evade the protection offered by previous infection. But data emerging from countries where they have already taken hold, such as South Africa, suggest they are not more severe than previous Omicron subvariants.

"Vaccination is the best way to reduce your risk," Russell said. "Expanding booster eligibility will give people an extra layer of protection."

It will also help protect the health-care system, she said, noting the increases are happening at a time predicted to be a slowdown period for hospitals so staff could get "a much-needed break."

New Brunswick rates for first and second doses remained unchanged again this week at 93.3 per cent and 88.2 per cent, while the third-dose rate increased by 0.1 per cent to 52.9 per cent.