HALIFAX —
Barbara Mitchell is now fully vaccinated.
“I feel like I won $1 million,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell got her first shot on May 4 and some side affects like aches, pain and chills made her wait to get her second dose.
“That was it, that was all the symptoms I had so this one here, I shouldn’t have any at all,” Mitchell said.
The uptake for first and second doses has slowed. Seventy-six per cent of all Nova Scotians have one shot of vaccine and only 67 per cent are fully vaccinated.
“Lots of openings is what we have right now,” says Graham Mackenzie, a pharmacist in Baddeck, N.S.
MacKenzie owns the pharmacy that is one of 300 across the province that administer the vaccine.
He says half of his 72 appointments for Wednesday are booked. Next Monday and Tuesday, only 30 per cent of the openings are taken.
He says the slowdown has caused some of his vaccine supply to expire.
“There certainly was a large amount of vaccine, Moderna, that went out of date for us,” MacKenzie said. “We had a few boxes that went out of dates in the store and were never opened.”
The business community is anxiously watching the province’s slow climb to phase five of its reopening plan, one that would allow 100 per cent capacity in stores, restaurants, and bars.
“If we don’t step up as a province you are going to see wholesale changes in small business in other words, they are going under.
As vaccine rates increase, Nova Scotia’s Department of Health and Wellness is expecting vaccine waste to also increase as the supply begins to outpace the demand.
MacKenzie says some people were reluctant to get their shots because of concerns over the Moderna vaccine. He said his supply moving forward is expected to be Pfizer, and he expects more people will be rolling up their sleeves.
