Nova Scotians aged 40-54 can now book an AstraZeneca vaccine (update) - HalifaxToday.ca

If you're a Nova Scotian between the ages of 40 and 54 hoping to book an appointment for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, keep trying.

That's the advice from the CEO of the Pharmacy Association of Nova Scotia, Allison Bodnar.

"It looks like everything local is full," she told NEWS 95.7 fill-in host Todd Veinotte just after 10 a.m. Friday. "But what I can say is there will be a few more clinics added as the day goes on."

The province announced earlier this week that it would be expanding the eligibility for the AstraZeneca immunization.

The website and phone line (1-833-797-7772) opened up for the age group Friday morning.

According to the province, there are about 195,000 eligible Nova Scotians in the 40-to-54 age group.

"It's great to see so many people are interested in getting the shots, which just means we can get more people vaccinated in a shorter amount of time," Bodnar said.

Those between the ages of 55 and 64 remain eligible for the AstraZeneca vaccine and anyone 55+ is eligible for a Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. 

"We have a lot of Moderna and Pfizer coming in in the middle of May and later May, and that's going to really start flowing," said Bodnar. "I expect we'll be dropping age groups pretty quickly as we get later into May."

Once you're eligible, or if you already are and haven't yet been able to book, keep checking for appointments.

"Clinics are being added daily. The government has an IT team that's adding these clinics, so as we get the information out to pharmacies about how many doses they're going to receive, they submit some documentation to these IT teams, which then creates the clinic in CANImmunize," Bodnar explained.  

"So everyday, there will be more clinics on there throughout the month of May."

Premier Iain Rankin and Dr. Robert Strang, chief medical officer of health, have another briefing scheduled at 2 p.m. Friday where they are expected to update the province's vaccine program.

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Nova Scotians aged 40-54 can now book an AstraZeneca vaccine (update) - HalifaxToday.ca
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