Get in a position to roll up your sleeves.
BEFORE CHRIST. Health will launch a vaccination crusade for momentary booster shots for millions of adults over the age of 12 in British Columbia in the fall, even as the third wave of Omicron infections in the province is already underway.
BC plans to offer this instant round of boosters to the general population starting in September, following the advice of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization and likely the bivalent vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna currently awaiting regulatory approval from Health Canada.
“What you have to do is wait until the fall,” said Dr. Brown. Penny Ballem, executive director of B. C. ‘s vaccination campaign, at a press convention Friday.
Ballem said the fall season is when the threat of exposure to respiratory illness is highest and other people move indoors with fewer opportunities for physical distancing. “That’s when the threat is highest and that’s the most powerful advice on when we need your fall reinforcement,” he said.
Like previous campaigns, the Fall Recall Campaign will be largely rolled out on an age-by-age basis and will prioritize those who want it most.
Updates are expected to be sent to British Columbians starting Monday, informing them of the rules and encouraging them to sign up for vaccination in the fall.
The province said it is ready to give booster shots before September to those who feel they have special cases to warrant an injection earlier, Ballem said.
Current vaccines are not adapted to the dominant variant of COVID-19 Omicron, while the bivalent vaccines, the two mRNA vaccines, which will likely be available in the fall, are designed to be effective against the original strain and the Omicron strain. .
“The drivers have helped us move from the crisis of a year ago, a year and a half ago. . . to stronger long-term control of this pandemic,” said Dr. Martin Lavoie, Acting Provincial Health Officer.
But there are many unknowns about the launch, how long it will take Health Canada to approve the bivalent vaccines, said Dr. Horacio Bach, a clinical assistant professor at UBC.
He said fitness Canada takes 4 to 6 months to approve a new drug.
“I don’t expect (a new vaccine imaginable) to be available before the end of the year,” he said.
The logistics of implementing a fourth retreat for ages 12 and older will likely take months, he said, and B. C. it will have to reopen congress centres and stadiums to accommodate the number.
But Bach said the original edition of the vaccines, formulated for Omicron’s precursors, turned out to offer “very little or no protection” unlike the Omicron BA. 5 variant in Israel, where boosters were launched so far in January.
“Are we going to vaccinate a population with a vaccine that possibly wouldn’t work?” he said.
Caroline Colijn of SFU, Canada 150 Research Chair in Mathematics for Evolution, Infections and Public Health, said we might not have enough data to opt for a quick recall or wait for the fall retreat, but that’s not the public’s duty fitness officials. Defect.
“We don’t know what will happen in the world” or how COVID will mutate in the future, he said.
The two scientists said that, in the meantime, it’s vital to continue wearing masks in crowded indoor spaces, socializing outdoors or with windows open, washing and disinfecting hands frequently, and taking precautions to restrict the spread to ourselves and others.
The news comes a day after COVID-19 hospitalizations in British Columbia rose 35% from last week. British Columbia Independent The COVID-19 modeling organization said the province is dealing with the third wave of Omicron, which is expected to peak in August.
Lavoie said fitness officials expected to see fluctuations in the number of cases and hospitalizations, but said there was no cause for alarm.
BC had weathered Omicron’s wave so far and “we did well,” he said.
Most other people with severe cases of COVID-19 are 70 or older or have a weakened immune system. This high-risk population already had a momentary booster available, so moving forward with the vaccination crusade for the general population before the fall would likely be less than doing much. “We are at the maximum of what we can achieve there,” he said.
Lavoie said other people still have a role to play in helping curb COVID-19 transmission, adding hand washing, keeping distance and wearing masks, though none of those measures are mandatory in British Columbia.
Health officials have not ruled out a return to COVID-19 restrictions, but have said they are not at this time. “We’re not there yet,” Lavoie said.
Approximately 91% of British Columbians have gained two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and are fully vaccinated.
People 12 years of age and older have already been given a booster shot. Nearly 60% have gained this additional dose, leaving approximately 1. 3 million British Columbians who have still gained this booster dose.
A momentary booster injection, to be taken in the spring, was presented to vulnerable populations, adding the elderly and immunocompromised people. About 64% of this segment received this recall.
chchan@postmedia. com
slazaruk@postmedia. com
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