At least 8% of New Brunswickers have had COVID-19, so what does that mean for immunity? – CBC
Vaccination still important, especially for uninfected who have 2 or fewer shots, says expert
May 12, 2022
About eight per cent of New Brunswickers have had COVID-19, according to figures from the province, but the actual percentage of the population with immunity from a previous infection is likely closer to four times that, due to unreported or unconfirmed cases.
Still Health Minister Dorothy Shephard is doubling down on messaging about the importance of vaccines and booster shots.
“We know right now that when someone has COVID, we’re saying that at three months, they should get their booster,” she said.
“So even though there’s a short-term immunity, there is also a great deal of waning immunity. And until we kind of get that science under control and we have maybe a vaccine that will last us a year, I think that we are going to be in this cycle for a little while.”
An immunology expert agrees vaccination is still important, but says the province should focus on the most “vulnerable.”
Michael Grant, a professor of immunology and associate dean of biomedical science at Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador, says that includes people who have had two or fewer vaccines and not yet been infected.
