Vaccine effectiveness may wane over time so the provincial government is encouraging those eligible for a booster dose to make use of the resource
On Nov. 3 the Ontario government announced that COVID-19 booster shot eligibility will soon be expanded to a wide range of groups after a minimum of six months following their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
On Nov. 6, groups eligible for the dose will include those at higher risk of severe illness such as residents of long-term care homes and other congregate settings for older adults, adults in the community aged 70 or older, eligible health care workers, recipients of a viral vector vaccine, and First Nations, Inuit, and Métis adults.
According to GuelphToday, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (WDG) Public Health has already begun contacting eligible residents to schedule appointments over the phone.
Booster shots will not be mandatory but will be encouraged by the provincial government.
Additional groups aged 12 or older will also be made eligible “sometime next year,” reports CBC News. Some high-risk groups have already been offered booster doses, such as transplant recipients, some cancer patients, and people on medications that cause immunosuppression.
The six month timeline is based on recommendations from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization regarding groups who are at risk of waning immunity.
Current data is still preliminary, but the average effectiveness of mRNA vaccines after a second dose is approximately 85 per cent, reports CBC News, and those with two vaccine doses will still be considered fully immunized against COVID-19.
Medical Officer of Health Dr. Nicola Mercer specified that those at or past six months since vaccination don’t need to panic as they are still protected from their initial doses.
“What we’re saying to you, is some time over the next one to two months if you could try and get your booster dose. It’s just a flag to say that we think that people in this age group should have a booster dose,” said Mercer to GuelphToday.
WDG Health hopes to get everyone aged 80 or older in for a booster dose “well before the snow falls,” although first and second doses are still the priority.
In the case of health care staff, vaccine and booster doses will be distributed to hospitals and related agencies by WDG Public Health so that eligible workers can get their shots at work.
Local eligible residents who have not yet been contacted are encouraged to visit wdgpublichealth.ca/booster-doses for instructions on how to access their booster dose.
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