This dose will be the second booster offered to the general population, although Dr. Penny Ballem, executive head of the province’s vaccination program, noted there are still 1.3 million British Columbians who have not accepted the invitation to get the first. their. “They need to get that first boost and we are ready for them at any time,” Balem told a news conference on Friday. “Please go get it.” Second boosters will be offered to people six months after their first, following the same interval used between the second initial doses and the first boosters. So far, second boosters have only been offered to British Columbians aged 70 and over, Aboriginal people aged 55 and over, people living in long-term care homes and those considered clinically extremely vulnerable to severe infection. Eligibility soon expands to people age 65 and older, with invitations starting Monday. For the general population, Ballem stressed that fall is the optimal time to boost their protection against COVID-19. “This is the time when we are most exposed to respiratory illness – we move indoors in autumn and winter, our risk is higher and you want to get your souvenir when the risk is higher,” he said. By fall, the government also expects to have new vaccines available from Pfizer and Moderna that are tailored to protect against Omicron. Both are pending approval by Health Canada. “It looks very promising,” said Dr. Martin Lavoie, BC’s acting provincial health officer. “These new vaccines and boosters will be vital in helping us maintain our trajectory – a very positive course so far in managing this pandemic.” BC health officials have repeatedly credited widespread vaccination for allowing the province to lift and relax many COVID-19 restrictions earlier this year, returning a sense of normalcy to daily life. However, they also urged the public not to become complacent, particularly as COVID-19 transmission and hospitalizations begin to rise once again. Modelers believe another Omicron wave, fueled by the BA.5 subvariant, is already underway and expected to peak next month. “The virus is still circulating,” Lavoie said. “So we want to be clear: the pandemic is not over, unfortunately.” There was some reluctance to take a third dose, for reasons that are not clear. While 94 percent of adults in B.C. have received the first dose, only about 62 percent have received a booster. Health Minister Adrian Dix said the province continues to make progress, however, providing “about 50,000 shots a week.” According to the government, vaccine effectiveness data from early April to May of this year showed Canadians who received the boost had “about a five-fold lower risk of hospitalization compared to unvaccinated people.” Second amps are widely offered throughout BC. on the advice of the National Advisory Council on Immunization, whose guidelines were followed by provincial health officials throughout the pandemic. NACI is still deciding whether to approve a first souvenir for children between the ages of five and 11. A smaller first initial dose of vaccine designed for children under five is also pending Health Canada approval and subsequent NACI review.
