‘We’re getting frustrated’: Calls for NS grow louder to cover high-dose flu shot for seniors – Halifax | Globalnews.ca

The flu vaccination campaign is in full swing across Canada, and calls are mounting in Nova Scotia for the province to pay for the high-dose flu vaccine for all seniors.

“I hear about it regularly,” said Bill VanGorder, a senior spokesman for the provincial chapter of the Canadian Association of Retired Persons.

“We held a fitness webinar of all things last night. We had over 200 attendees on the webinar and even in the fitness context, they expressed concern that they might not be able to get the high dose.”

“We’ve been asking for this for three years,” VanGorder told Global News in an interview at Province House on Thursday. “We’re honestly frustrated that it hasn’t happened yet.”

He watched as liberal MLA Angela Simmonds introduced a bill in the Nazi legislature that would require the province’s health plan to cover the cost of the high-dose shot for all seniors over 65.

Currently, Nova Scotia only covers the cost of high-dose flu shots for seniors in long-term care homes or those awaiting a place in long-term care in the hospital.

The provincial pulmonary and pharmacy associations set up a clinic at Province House so that MLAs and staff could be more aware of the problem.

“Before the pandemic, 70 to 80 Nova Scotians were dying each year,” said Robert MacDonald, CEO of the Lung Association of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

He said these people are some of the 4,500 who die on average each year from the flu across the county.

“Now that people are moving around more, the vulnerability to flu is greater and the vaccine is the best way to protect yourself,” he said.

Nova Scotia is one of four provinces – and the only marine province – that does not cover the cost.

VanGorder said covering the high-dose shot for all of the province’s seniors would save money in the long run because it would help keep people out of the hospital.

After Angela Simmonds, the Liberal Party’s senior citizen and long-term care critic, presented her bill on Friday, she told Global News that expanded coverage should begin now.

“It represents justice throughout,” she said. “There [is] definitely a gap for seniors over 65.”

Susan Leblanc, the NDP’s health critic, recently introduced similar legislation.

“We know that NACI (National Advisory Council on Immunization) recommends that all seniors over 65 get the high-dose flu shot,” she said in an interview.

“It’s going to keep people healthier, and of course seniors are at greater risk of bad outcomes when it comes to catching the flu,” she added.

“I’m a little confused as to why the minister isn’t listening to NACI.”

But Michelle Thompson, the province’s health and wellness secretary, says the coverage is under review.

“We know the regular flu vaccine is safe and effective, and we’re just encouraging people to go out and get that coverage,” Thompson said. “We continue to evaluate whether we will offer high-dose flu in the future, but not this year.”

And this despite challenges exacerbated by the cost of living crisis.

“My wife and I had it last week and together we paid a bill of $213.60,” VanGorder said. “We asked for it [this coverage] for three years… We’re getting frustrated.”

You can book your influenza or COVID-19 vaccine here or by calling 1-833-797-7772.

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