Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones in February, 2024. Ms. Jones, who is set to announce the expansion of public coverage for RSV vaccines, says immunization reduces severe outcomes and hospitalizations.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
Beginning this fall, all Ontarians 75 and older will be eligible for a free shot that protects against respiratory syncytial virus.
Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones is scheduled to announce the expansion of public coverage for RSV vaccines on Wednesday, according to a Ministry of Health release that The Globe and Mail obtained in advance.
Until now, the Ontario government only paid for the RSV vaccine for seniors who were 60 and older and considered high risk, such as transplant recipients, dialysis patients and nursing home residents.
The province continues to cover the RSV vaccine for pregnant women as a way to protect their newborns against a virus that is particularly dangerous to the very young and very old.
“Our government is ensuring that people across the province, at every stage of life, have the tools they need to keep themselves and their loved ones safe and healthy by helping protect those most vulnerable during the upcoming respiratory illness season,” Jackson Jacobs, a spokesperson for Ms. Jones, said in a statement.
“We know that immunization against RSV reduces severe outcomes and hospitalizations resulting from the illness.”
Quebec’s RSV immunization program greatly lowered infant hospitalizations, study says
Ontario’s decision to widen public coverage of RSV vaccines is part of a sea change in options for Canadians looking to protect themselves and their children against a pathogen that has historically taken a heavy toll on hospitals most winters.
RSV is a respiratory virus that generally spreads alongside influenza and COVID-19 between November and April. It is usually no more dangerous than the common cold, but can lead to serious illness in infants and the elderly, sometimes putting them in the hospital.
Until 2023, there were no Health Canada-approved vaccines to reduce the risk of serious complications from RSV. Now there are three, including a new version produced with the mRNA technology made famous by the first generation of COVID-19 vaccines. Health Canada greenlit the mRNA shot for RSV last year.
Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization, an expert panel that issues advice on vaccine use, strongly recommends that seniors 75 and older take one of those shots to protect against RSV. NACI issued the same strong recommendation for RSV immunization for people 60 or older who live in nursing homes or chronic care facilities.
Ask a doctor: What vaccines should I get as an adult?
Outside of Ontario, public coverage of RSV vaccines for seniors varies by province. Some private insurance plans cover the RSV jabs as well, and people without insurance can pay for them out of pocket.
Another major and recent change in the RSV landscape was aimed at infants. In 2023, Health Canada approved nirsevimab, a monoclonal antibody injected once a season to protect newborns against RSV.
Nirsevimab provides lab-made antibodies to babies, unlike vaccines, which stimulate the immune system to make its own antibodies. Before the approval of nirsevimab, provinces and territories covered an older, short-acting antibody called palivizumab, but only for high-risk babies, such as those born prematurely.
The older product had to be injected monthly during RSV season.
Ontario, Quebec and the territories all provided universal coverage of nirsevimab for babies for the first time during the 2024 to 2025 RSV season. Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island plan to do the same for the upcoming season, while several other provinces have said they will provide public funding of nirsevimab for high-risk babies only.
A recent study published as a preprint − which means it has yet to be peer-reviewed − found Quebec’s universal RSV immunization program for babies was more than 85 per cent effective in reducing infant hospital admissions, emergency room consultations and intensive care admissions.