CHNE spoke with Chéticamp’s Dr. Michel Chiasson about the COVID-19 vaccines.

Nova Scotia started vaccinating last week. According to government plans, front-line health care workers and long-term care staff in the Central Zone will receive their vaccine by the end of the month. Here in the Eastern Zone, the Cape Breton Regional Hospital will be set up as a storage unit for vaccines and will be receiving 1,950 doses the first week of January.

Details about immunization clinics are still being worked out. So far, the province said that until March 2021, it will focus on healthcare workers across the province as well as long-term care staff & residents, and seniors of 70 years and more. It will start by vaccinating those who are 80 and older, then 75 and older, then 70 and older.

Dr. Chiasson, who works at the Sacred Heart Community Health Centre, gave residents an idea about how the mRNA vaccines work and what to expect in the next few months. “After we get the vaccine,” he said, “we still need about 70% of the population to get the vaccine to develop what we call herd immunity, where enough people are immune to this virus that it just cannot spread. It can’t go from one person to another to another."

"So, that’s why it’s so important that we get that good uptake of people taking this vaccine", he continued,  "But that’s going to take a long time. We have to produce this vaccine -- although the good news is, it’s something that can be easily produced because it’s not the old type of vaccine where you have to grow the virus. This technology allows us to produce the vaccine much more quickly. The problem now is logistically: getting it out to the communities, getting it out to Chéticamp, getting it out to Pleasant Bay and Meat Cove and up to the north of Canada. So, there are logistical issues and that’s why I believe the military is involved in some ways in trying to plan -- because it really is a mission to get this done. So, it’s going to take some time. In the meantime, we can’t let our guard down. This virus is still very much in the population throughout the country and could bounce back in Nova Scotia. So: masks, washing your hands, making sure that over the holidays, you socially distance, that you make sure you have small bubbles, that you still be very smart. And if you have any concerns, if you have any symptoms, or if you think that you have any exposure, to get tested.”

Testing appointments can be booked online at nshealth.ca/coronavirustesting.