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That’s when the risk of respiratory infections is highest, Dr. Penny Ballem said.
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Jul 08, 2022 • 20 Hours Ago • 4 Minutes Read • 52 Comments Dr. Penny Ballem, Executive Director of British Columbia’s COVID-19 Immunization Program. Photo by Herman Thind/Government of British Columbia/PNG
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Get ready to roll up your sleeves again.
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British Columbia health officials will begin a vaccination campaign for a second booster shot for millions of British Columbians aged 12 and over in the fall, even as the province’s third wave of Omicron infections is already underway.
BC plans to offer this second round of booster vaccines to the general population starting in September, following the recommendation of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization and possibly using bivalent vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna, which are currently awaiting regulatory approval from Health Canada.
“The best thing to do is wait until the fall,” Dr. Penny Ballem, executive director of BC’s immunization campaign, said at a news conference Friday.
Ballem said that during the fall season, the risk of exposure to respiratory diseases is highest and when people move indoors with less opportunity to maintain physical distance. “That’s when the risk is highest and that’s the strongest recommendation when we want you to get your fall booster,” she said.
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Like previous campaigns, the fall booster campaign will be launched largely based on age and will prioritize people who need it most.
Updates are expected to be sent to BC residents starting Monday, informing them of the recommended guidelines and encouraging them to sign up for their chance in the fall.
The province has said it is willing to give booster shots before September to those it believes have special circumstances to warrant an earlier shot, Ballem said.
Current vaccines are not tailored to the dominant Omicron variant of COVID-19, while the bivalent vaccines — both mRNA vaccines — likely to be available in the fall are designed to be effective against the original strain as well as the Omicron strain.
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“The boosters have helped us move from the crisis phase of a year, a year and a half ago … to a more robust long-term management of this pandemic,” said Dr. Martin Lavoie, acting provincial health officer.
But there are many unknowns about implementation, including how long it will take for Health Canada to approve the bivalent vaccines, said Dr. Horacio Bach, a clinical assistant professor at UBC.
He said it usually takes four to six months for Health Canada to approve a new drug.
“I don’t expect (a possible new vaccine) to be available until the end of the year,” he said.
The logistics of rolling out a fourth booster for those 12 and older would likely take months, he said, and BC would have to reopen convention centers and arenas to accommodate the numbers.
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But Bach said the original version of the vaccines, formulated for the Omicron precursors, had proven to offer “very little or no protection” against the Omicron BA.5 variant in Israel, where second boosters were released in January.
“Are we going to vaccinate a population with a vaccine that’s not going to work?” he said.
SFU’s Caroline Colleen, Canada 150 Research Chair in Mathematics for Evolution, Infection and Public Health, said we may not have enough information to decide whether to choose an immediate booster or wait for the fall booster, but that’s not up to public health officials. healthcare error.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen in the world” or how COVID will mutate in the future, she said.
In the meantime, both scientists said it’s important to continue to wear masks in crowded indoor spaces, socialize outdoors or with windows open, wash and sanitize our hands frequently, and take precautions to limit the spread to ourselves and others .
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The news comes a day after hospitalizations for COVID-19 in British Columbia jumped 35 percent compared to the week before. BC’s independent COVID-19 modeling group said the province is in the grip of the third Omicron wave, which is expected to peak in August.
Lavoie said health officials expect to see fluctuations in the number of cases and hospitalizations, but indicated there is no cause for alarm.
BC weathered the second Omicron wave and “we did pretty well,” he said.
Most of the people with severe cases of COVID-19 are usually 70 years of age or older or have compromised immune systems. This high-risk population already had a second booster, so moving the vaccination campaign to the general population before the fall won’t do much. “We’re maxed out in terms of what we can get there,” he said.
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Lavoie said people still have a role to play to help limit the transmission of COVID-19, including hand washing, social distancing and wearing masks, although none of these measures are mandatory in British Columbia
Health officials did not rule out a return to the COVID-19 restrictions, but said they were not necessary at this time. “We’re not there yet,” Lavoie said.
About 91 percent of British Columbians have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and are considered fully vaccinated.
People aged 12 and over are already offered one booster shot. Nearly 60 percent received this extra dose, leaving about 1.3 million British Columbians who have yet to receive this booster shot.
The second booster shot, available in the spring, was offered to vulnerable populations, including the elderly and immunocompromised. About 64 percent of this segment received this booster.
chchan@postmedia.com
slazaruk@postmedia.com
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