COVID-19: BC will offer fourth dose of vaccine for immunocompromised elderly

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BC health officials are preparing for a spring booster program targeting the elderly and nursing home operators are delighted the province is offering a second booster dose of COVID-19 to people over 70 and older. immunocompromised people, but other changes in how the pandemic will unfold managed and reported are raising concerns.

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Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced Tuesday that seniors in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, people over age 70, and 100,000 immunocompromised people in BC will be eligible to receive a fourth vaccine starting of this month.

“We know that the older we are, the sooner our antibodies decline,” Henry explained. “So an additional booster dose right now will provide that spring protection so we can get back to more activities in the community.”

Terry Lake, executive director of the BC Caregivers Association, said the second booster campaign came just in time.

“In a week or so, people (in nursing homes) will hit their six-month window from when they got their first booster, so this is very timely and we’re delighted to hear about it,” he said.

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However, Lake is concerned that because the public health office has changed the parameters for how an outbreak of COVID-19 is declared, people are unable to assess their risk of becoming infected with the virus.

“The problem is the lack of transparency,” Lake said. “Even if you’re not calling it an outbreak, it would be wise to at least list households that have COVID cases on the health authority’s website, which is what they do if there is norovirus or influenza in a facility. But they’re not doing that with COVID unless they decide it’s an outbreak.”

Others are disappointed by Henry’s announcement that, beginning Friday, the BC vaccination card will no longer be required to enter some stores and facilities and the vaccination mandate for post-secondary students living on campus will also end. This follows the end of the mask mandate for indoor public spaces nearly a month ago.

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Kyenta Martins, a Vancouver mother of two who has COPD, a disease that weakens the lungs, said lifting restrictions means she won’t go indoors in public spaces and will limit grocery shopping to the early hours of the morning, when she said who sees more people wearing masks. .

Martins said the changes make her feel less valued than other citizens.

“We heard Dr. Henry say that it is a very small percentage of the population that will get sick, but we still matter and it is worthwhile for people to wear painless protection, to wear a mask, that provides support to so many people who are at risk. . Martins said.

However, Henry insisted that maintaining the public health orders will do more harm than good.

“There is no magic moment when there is no risk,” he said, noting that high vaccination rates and encouragement of mask wearing and social distancing are preferable to provincial health orders.

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Henry added that public reporting of case counts will be reduced to once a week, starting Thursday.

Dr. Tara Moriarty, an infectious disease researcher at the University of Toronto, called the changes to the data report “problematic.”

“There is a very good chance that BC will see a big wave soon and the loss of daily reports means that people will not realize what is happening,” Moriarty said.

“And, if they were in the know, they can make decisions about wearing their mask and knowing what’s going on could make a difference in what happens with this sixth wave.”

Moriarty also wondered what prompted the province to announce that it will begin reporting death counts differently in the future.

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Henry said death reports will now include people who tested positive for COVID-19 at the time of death, in addition to those whose deaths were caused by COVID. Those numbers will be adjusted later to remove those cases in which COVID was determined not to be the direct cause of death.

Henry was unable to explain whether those who actually died from COVID-19 would be listed separately. Instead, he promised a technical briefing in the future to explain to journalists how the system will work.

Moriarty said BC’s death count from COVID-19 is underreported. She believes that 1,000 more people have died from the Omicron variant than has been reported so far and wondered if the new system will provide more clarity.

“This is not beneficial for people themselves to be able to assess their risk. It’s only beneficial to leaders who want to say ‘we’re doing better’ than we actually are,” she said.

“There is no harm in giving people good information, especially if you are going to hold them accountable for everything related to the pandemic.

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