Have a vaccine appointment this week? You may need to rebook

If you have an appointment for a vaccine this week, you may need to rebook.

The Department of Health and Wellness says power outages have impacted the supply.

“For the COVID-19 vaccine and others to remain effective, they must be stored at a specific temperature, part of what is known as the 'cold chain,'” the department said in a news release.

“Widespread power outages caused by hurricane Fiona have disrupted the cold chain at some pharmacies and other sites where vaccines were stored.”

It's expected to take between five and seven days for Public Health staff to go around to pharmacies, doctors' offices and other sites to assess the situation.

That means some appointments will need to be cancelled. If that's the case, you might get a call from your pharmacy or clinic, or an email cancellation from CanImmunize.

“I know this is disappointing and frustrating for some Nova Scotians, but we need to ensure the vaccines we are administering are effective,” said Dr. Robert Strang, Chief Medical Officer of Health.

If you've got your shot since Saturday and it's been determined the vaccine wasn't stored at the proper temperature, you may be called back to get another dose.

“If they do not receive a call, that means their immunizer was unaffected,” the Health Department said. “Anyone who is concerned about a dose received in recent days should contact the provider where they received their vaccine.”

The province says power was maintained on the storage site for the monkeypox vaccine, so the Imvamune supply is fine.