More booster shot options
Glen Korstrom / Glacier Media – July 8, 2022 / 12:58 pm | History: 374860
BC plans to expand eligibility for second booster shots this fall, although specific details on exactly when different age groups will be eligible were not revealed at a July 8 press conference.
British Columbia lags behind the rest of Canada in the percentage of its population receiving two booster doses.
The latest data from Health Canada shows that only 5.2 per cent of British Columbians received two booster doses, or a total of four doses of the vaccine. It is the last among the eight provinces to report such data. In Quebec, for example, 13.2 percent of the population received two booster doses, according to Health Canada.
The reason British Columbia lags behind other provinces is that its eligibility requirements are more stringent. Earlier this year, to get a second booster shot, British Columbians had to be 70 or older, Indigenous people 55 or older or in a care home.
Dr. Penny Ballem, who leads the province’s vaccine rollout, said one change in the province’s regulations is that those who believe they are vulnerable can contact the government.
“If you really think you have special circumstances, you can call the call center and we’ll arrange for you to get a booster,” she said.
The news comes after Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) on June 30 urged provinces and territories to provide second booster vaccines against COVID-19 by this fall.
NACI said it “strongly” recommends giving the second booster shots to Canadians over the age of 65, long-term care residents, people over the age of 12 with illnesses that put them at “high risk” of severe COVID-19, as and people from Indigenous and racialized communities are disproportionately affected by COVID-19.
Health Minister Adrian Dix said the province is following NACI’s recommendations, although the province is still only providing second booster shots to those in the general population who are 70 and older.
Add Comment