The Yukon government will begin offering a second COVID-19 booster shot on a limited basis beginning Apr. 12.

The shots will be available to people 70 years of age and older, as well as people with compromised immune systems, Premier Sandy Silver announced during a COVID-19 briefing this morning.

That was the major news out of the session – the first in three weeks.

People in congregate living settings will be eligible as well.

In his opening comments, Silver said the Yukon is “in a good place” right now when it comes to COVID-19.

“We’re in a stable and manageable situation,” he said, reiterating a turn of phrase he used almost two weeks ago in a media scrum at the Yukon legislature.

Dr. Jesse Kancir filled in for Dr. Catherine Elliott, the acting chief medical officer of health, who is on vacation. He said the decision to offer the booster shots follows federal health advice.

The boosters will be offered to larger segments of the population as that federal advice recommends, he said.

Kancir acknowledged “there is a lot of COVID-19 activity in the territory,” although numbers have improved somewhat in recent days.

He said the testing positivity rate is due partially to that high spread in the communities, but might be exaggerated as well by low testing rates.

In January, the government and public health officials heavily restricted access to PCR testing. There is also no provision for people using rapid testing kits at home to report the results.

“Levels will be high for some weeks to come,” Kancir predicted.

He told reporters the data aren’t sufficient for him to pinpoint whether the Yukon is in the midst of a sixth wave, as is being reported in other parts of Canada.

Kancir also announced there is another outbreak of COVID-19 at the Copper Ridge Place continuing care facility.

Measures are being taken to address that situation, he said.

Both Kancir and Silver said there are no plans to begin waste water analysis as a measure of COVID surveillance.

The Yukon and New Brunswick are the only two jurisdictions in Canada that aren’t using the technique.

However, Silver said he doesn’t see the need for it, since it has never been used here.

Kancir agreed with that analysis.

He also touched on the question of natural immunity, which is becoming a topic of mounting interest amongst the public.

While it’s an important consideration, Kancir said current data and research indicate that natural immunity is wildly variable among individuals, and can’t be reliably predicted nor relied on.

That’s one of the main reasons why vaccination continues to dominate the conversation, Kancir said.

It’s simply a case of there being enough research data to establish at least general timelines of when the effects of vaccinations begin to wane and wear off.

“There’s too much uncertainty,” he said.

In response to another question by a reporter, Kancir also said it’s too soon to establish whether COVID-19 vaccinations will become an annual thing, as is the case with influenza.

“I simply don’t know,” he said. “We will continue to follow the evidence.”

There are 77 active cases, Kancir said. (See earlier case data below.)