Canada Expands Booster Dose Recommendations for COVID-19

OTTAWA: As COVID-19 evolves, Canada’s National Immunization Advisory Committee now strongly recommends booster shots for adults age 50 and older, anyone who has received the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Janssen vaccine as their primary series, workers first-line healthcare providers and those of indigenous communities.

The advisory committee also said that adults ages 18 to 49 “may be offered” a booster dose, although this recommendation was not supported as strongly.

In all cases, booster doses of a licensed mRNA COVID-19 vaccine must be given at least six months after someone has completed their primary vaccine series.

NACI’s expanded recommendations come after it first recommended booster shots for people over the age of 80 and seniors living in long-term care homes and other congregated settings.

The COVID-19 pandemic, and the science behind it, has changed rapidly since the advisory committee first issued its interim booster guidance in late October.

Friday’s guidelines, whose implementation depends on the provinces and territories, were announced after the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines were approved for use as booster doses.

COVID-19 case counts are increasing rapidly in many parts of the world and there has been a slight increase in some Canadian jurisdictions.

Studies now show that protection against coronavirus is declining in some populations after initial doses.

There are no safety concerns with boosters, beyond what has already been reported after receiving a primary series of vaccines.

But there are still unanswered questions about the Omicron variant, which was first detected in Canada on November 28.

“Information on this (variant of concern) is still emerging, including its impact, if any, on the efficacy of the vaccine,” the new NACI report noted.

Public Health Director Dr. Theresa Tam said Friday’s recommendations were already in the works and would have been issued regardless of whether a new variant had been discovered.

“Right now, the Delta variant is the most dominant variant. It’s like 99.8 percent of what we have in Canada, ”Tam told reporters. “I think the extent of protection against Omicron for the primary series and booster doses remains to be seen. And we are going to learn a lot about this in the coming days. “