Phased approach to booster shots will be best: expert

With Health Canada paving the way for all Canadians over the age of 18 to get COVID-19 booster shots, it is now up to provinces to figure out the next step of the rollout.

In Alberta, anyone over the age of 70 and all Indigenous adults can get booster shots from Pfizer, as well as other people in high-risk settings including residents of supportive living facilities and certain health care staff.

You can also get a booster if you have only received two doses of AstraZeneca or require a mRNA vaccine for travelling to some areas.

When it comes to moving ahead with the next step, an expert says we should stick to this philosophy of focusing on elderly and immunocompromised people.

“This is good news for people who are at high risk,” said University of Calgary infectious disease expert Dr. Dan Gregson.

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“People over 40, it looks like it starts to have benefit in that age group. That’s early data out of Israel, and there’s not really more data than that. Above the age of 60, it looks like it’s pretty important.”

Gregson said we should look first at everyone in long-term care, then going from the oldest age groups and working down the list. If you are under 40 and healthy, you probably don’t need to worry too much about rushing to get that third shot.

In addition, you also have to wait until at least six months have passed since your previous dose to get the booster and this could push most Albertans into the new year before getting vaccinated again.

This is also good as we look to further reduce hospitalizations and deaths, with COVID-19 rates on a downward trend over the past few months in the province.

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“Two doses is good, the third dose actually gives them more reduction of risk of hospitalization and death,” Gregson said.

According to the latest data, over 87 per cent of eligible Albertans have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 81 per cent are fully vaccinated. Efforts are also being made to expand the eligibility to Canadian children between the ages of 5 and 11 after approval was granted in the United States.

Gregson stressed the importance of getting vaccinated as we move into later stages of the pandemic, because we can never fully eradicate the virus and most people will likely be exposed at some point.

“When restrictions come off, those people who aren’t immunized will become infected. And without having vaccines will be at risk of adverse outcomes based on their age and underlying diseases.”

He added it is hard to say if booster shots will continue to be required through the future, similar to annual flu shots, but suspects people who are at the highest risk of adverse effects from COVID-19 should consider regular immunizations.