Fraser Health registered nurse Kai Kayibadi draws a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine into a syringe at a walk-up vaccination clinic at Bear Creek Park, in Surrey, B.C., on May 17, 2021.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
The Ontario and B.C. governments will soon offer fourth vaccine doses to their oldest and most vulnerable citizens, as COVID-19 case numbers and hospitalizations creep up across the country.
The two provinces’ announcements Tuesday came hours after recommendations from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), which called for the rapid deployment of a second booster dose for adults 80 and older, as well as long-term care residents.
The committee also asked provinces to consider expanding eligibility for a fourth dose to residents 70 and older, noting a six-month gap between booster doses would be ideal.
Last week, the Public Health Agency of Canada said a resurgence of COVID-19 is likely to be underway and encouraged Canadians to be vigilant to help curb spread of the latest variant. The latest surge is being partially driven by the highly transmissible BA.2 subvariant of Omicron, which is now the dominant version of the virus in several provinces, and the rolling back of public-health restrictions, federal health officials say.
Ontario’s plan goes further than NACI’s recommendations: It is offering fourth doses to residents aged 60 and older. And those shots are already available to long-term care and retirement-home residents as well as those who are immunocompromised.
Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott said the province will be moving faster than the initial recommendation.
“NACI has recommended that everyone over 80 could be eligible for a fourth dose and our medical advisors have recommended in Ontario that we go to 60 to provide an added level of protection to the residents of Ontario,” she told reporters at Queen’s Park.
Provinces should prepare to offer second COVID-19 booster shots, national vaccine panel says
She said more details on the rollout will be released Wednesday.
COVID-19 hospitalizations in Ontario have increased by 38 per cent from last week. It reported 1,091 people in hospital on Tuesday, surpassing 1,000 patients for the first time since Feb. 26, just before the province eliminated capacity restrictions as well as proof of vaccination and most mask mandates.
British Columbia is rolling out fourth doses for seniors over 70, and residents at long-term care and assistant-living facilities. Those shots will also be accessible to Indigenous people aged 55 and older and those who are considered clinically extremely vulnerable.
“We know that the older we are, the sooner that antibodies will wane,” B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry said at a briefing on Tuesday.
“So an extra booster dose right now will provide a rapid increase in antibodies … and will provide that spring protection as we’re able to get back to more activities in the community.”
Dr. Henry said the province has started to see a slight uptick in levels of COVID-19 in wastewater surveillance in the past one to two weeks, according to the modelling data. She noted it’s partly caused by the increase of more infections by the transmissible BA.2 subvariant of Omicron, which accounts for 70 to 75 per cent of B.C.’s current cases.
Despite the trend, British Columbia is moving forward with its plan to eliminate its last public-health requirement aimed at containing the virus: The obligation for patrons to show proof of vaccination before entering public venues such as restaurants and movie theatres will expire.
Caroline Colijn, an infectious-disease modeller who teaches mathematics at Simon Fraser University, said providing a fourth dose to the oldest and most immunocompromised people is a vital policy as provinces confront a sixth wave of infections spurred on by the BA.2 variant. But projecting how B.C. will fare during this wave is incredibly difficult given the lifting of mask mandates and vaccination passports as well as the lack of widespread testing, she said.
“At this exact moment we have the highest uncertainty we’ve ever had in the pandemic,” said Dr. Colijn, who began modelling the transmission of the virus on Canada’s West Coast in February, 2020.
Dr. Henry said about 50 per cent of B.C.’s population has developed antibodies to the virus through vaccination or infection.
In B.C., only about 60 per cent of people aged 18 and over have received their third dose. But Dr. Henry said the province’s fourth-dose campaign is targeted and she expects to see a high uptake in seniors and elders.
You may soon be offered a fourth COVID-19 shot. Here’s what to know about second boosters
Dr. Colijn suspects one reason a third of eligible adults still haven’t sought out a third dose is because they are just delaying their booster after catching COVID-19 this winter. She added that B.C.’s vaccine-passport system is less effective now compared with the protection it offered restaurant goers during waves fuelled by other variants. That’s because the vaccinated are more likely to get infected by Omicron and spread it to others, she said.
As of Tuesday, 334 COVID-19 patients were in B.C. hospitals, up from 274 on Friday.
Neither Ontario nor B.C. currently have plans to reinstate their mask requirements. But Quebec and Prince Edward Island decided to extent their provincial mask mandates until later this month as they try to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
PEI’s Chief Public Health Officer, Heather Morrison, said masks are more effective against the virus when there is a universal requirement to wear them.
“Masks do matter,” she said. “Masks will be one of the last measures lifted.”
PEI’s plan is to require face coverings until at least April 28. The province is ending all gathering and capacity limits across the province as of midnight Tuesday.
In Quebec City, interim public-health director Luc Boileau said he was extending a mask mandate until the end of April because of a rise of infections and hospitalizations across the province. Quebec officials said there were 1,479 people in hospital with COVID-19 after 219 patients were admitted in the previous 24 hours.
With reports from The Canadian Press
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