There’s still a lot of work to do to ensure Ontarians get a third COVID-19 vaccine, says the science director of Ontario’s COVID-19 Scientific Advisory Board, as the debate over fourth doses begins to intensify.
“Although a lot of the conversation right now is around the fourth dose, to me the scientifically clearest option, the thing that we need to do — and it’s not an availability issue, the vaccine is available to us — is that third dose,” D Dr Fahad Razak told CP24 on Monday.
His comments come as Ontario’s opposition parties call for the province to expand fourth doses, as Quebec has now done, ahead of a potential fall surge.
Third doses are currently recommended in Ontario for everyone aged 12 and over, while fourth doses are available to those aged 60 and over, as well as those aged 18 and over who are First Nation, Inuit or Métis.
But according to the latest vaccination data released by the province, only 57 percent of those 12 and older have received a third dose, despite widespread availability in the province.
“That third dose, that’s the dose that clearly gives you increased protection not just against infection, but against severe disease. And severe disease is what we care about the most,” Razak said. “So right now there’s a large number of people in Ontario who are eligible for that third dose but haven’t received it.”
Ontario began rolling out third doses in November and expanded eligibility to anyone 18 and older in late December. Taking the third dose was disappointing, however, and Ontarians were slow to get the shot.
Although some people have indicated they do not want to receive more than the first two doses initially prescribed, Razak said advice on how many vaccines are needed has changed as the pandemic has progressed and the virus has changed.
“The virus turned out to be a really terrible opponent for us,” Razak said. “And it has mutated to the point that what is currently circulating in Ontario, Canada and the world is almost unrecognizable compared to what we originally saw and developed vaccines against.”
“So these increasing rounds of vaccinations are coming out because we’re doing everything we can to protect against a mutating virus.”
However, he added that newer vaccines show promise in providing better protection against the latest strains of the virus.
“It’s really unclear what will happen in the future. “One of the things that is very promising is vaccines that are being adapted and developed against what’s circulating now, as opposed to what was there two years ago when the virus first emerged from China,” Razak said. “And so there is hope that these newer generations of vaccines will give us more lasting protection.”
In the meantime, he said, and especially toward fall, when other respiratory illnesses will be circulating, it makes sense to get all the vaccines you’re eligible for and continue to be careful about masking in high-risk settings to avoid infection.
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