At a press conference in Fredericton on August 26, 2021, New Brunswick Health Minister Dorothy Shephard announced that the province has recently experienced a rise in vaccination bookings, with the average number of weekly appointments increasing from about 6,000 to 8,000 at health network clinics and participating pharmacies.

“This increase and the fact that hospitalizations are low are encouraging signs,” said Shephard. “As we head into the fall, I am hopeful that even more New Brunswickers will choose to get vaccinated. We know this is the best tool we have to protect ourselves and our loved ones.”

Despite the rise of vaccination bookings, cases remain on the rise in New Brunswick, with 14 cases of community spread detected in the province. There are also currently four people in hospital with COVID-19 despite beginning this month with no cases requiring hospitalization.

“If you are not yet fully vaccinated, your health remains at risk from COVID-19,” said Dr. Cristin Muecke, deputy chief medical officer of health. “An unvaccinated person is more likely to become seriously ill, and more likely to suffer long-term effects, if they become infected with COVID-19. We continue to urge every eligible New Brunswicker to become fully vaccinated as soon as possible.”

New Brunswick has almost met its target of having 75 per cent of the eligible population fully vaccinated. As of Thursday, 74.2 per cent of New Brunswickers aged 12 and older are fully vaccinated and 84 per cent have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

“As of this morning, we surpassed an impressive 1.1 million doses of vaccine administered in the province,” said Shephard. “While this is an important milestone in our fight against COVID-19 and something we should be proud of, there is still more work to be done if we want to have as many eligible New Brunswickers as possible fully vaccinated.”