Newfoundland and Labrador is set to release its plan for reopening to other provinces within the next week.
Premier Andrew Furey made the announcement at yesterday’s COVID-19 briefing.
Federal guidance suggests 75 per cent of the population be partially vaccinated, and 20 per cent be fully vaccinated before reopening.
Health Minister John Haggie recently suggested that about one per cent of the province’s population is being vaccinated per day, meaning that 75 per cent threshold could be reached in mid-June.
Furey says conversations with the public health team, as well as looking at the epidemiology across the country, have helped shape the plan.
They are optimistic for the summer, but they realize things can change, and a dynamic will be built into the plan to address such a situation.
The Advisory Council on Tourism has been pushing for a reopening target of July 1st.
Furey says while they would have wanted to give the tourism industry guidance much earlier, that wasn’t possible.
He hopes to provide the industry with more certainty, and optimism for what will be a different summer than last.
Meanwhile, public health officials have set 75 per cent vaccination rates as the threshold for so-called “herd immunity.” However, it’s not a “black and white” concept according to professor of virology and immunology at Memorial University, Rod Russell.
That’s because none of the vaccines currently available provide 100 per cent protection from the COVID virus.
He says 75 per cent vaccination rates might prevent major outbreaks, but because the virus will still be circulating in the population, it won’t be enough to prevent infections.
