Dalhousie University infectious disease specialist, physician and researcher Dr. Lisa Barrett wants to see higher levels of vaccination in light of a new Omicron subvariant now in circulation.

Only about 24 per cent of the total eligible population in NL is up-to-date on their COVID vaccines.

Barrett would like to see higher vaccination rates, but she believes it may reflect the number of people who have recently picked up the virus.

She says for those who recently contracted COVID, “that is their vaccine, at least in this time frame.” That makes the incidence of COVID in the community, who’s getting it and how they’re affected “difficult to interpret”, due to a lack of regular testing according to Barrett.

She encourages anyone who hasn’t recently been infected with COVID to get their updated bivalent vaccine.