The shots are free and open to non-US residents, and a clinic that opened at the Point Roberts Fire Station two weeks ago was attended primarily by Canadians.
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BC plans to expand its rollout of COVID booster shots to those under 70 “in the fall,” but some British Columbians who don’t want to wait have traveled to Washington state to get a second booster that isn’t available to them in House.
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“At our last vaccination clinic, probably most of the people were Canadian, about 75 percent were Canadian,” Firefighter Bill Skinner of the Point Roberts Fire Department said Tuesday.
He said most of the fewer than 100 clinic attendees two weeks ago were middle-aged or older. In Washington, the second booster is available to anyone age 50 or older, while in BC you are eligible if you are age 70 or older or Native American and age 55 or older or live in a long-term care home.
“Maybe that’s why a lot of them were Canadian,” he said. “They came from Fraser Health (region).” He said there is another clinic planned for September.
The vaccines are available to non-US residents and the costs are covered by the US government, according to the Washington state health department website.
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“You do not need to be a US citizen to receive the vaccine,” the website said. “That means you don’t need a social security number or other documents with your immigration status to get the vaccine. Some vaccine providers may ask for a social security number, but you don’t have to give one.”
BC Health Minister Adrian Dix said Tuesday that BC would make a second booster, or fourth COVID vaccine, available in a few months, and health officials are investigating the availability of a possible new vaccine tailored for respond to the new Omicron BA.4 and BA. .5 subvariants that are on the rise here and around the world.
Dr. Eric Cadesky, a Vancouver family physician, said he knows patients who choose to have a fourth injection while in the US “People see this as a global pandemic…and they want to have the same protection as in other countries. . parts of the world.”
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And he said his patients would prefer to get a fourth booster rather than wait for a modified vaccine for the new subvariants.
“They want to be protected as much as possible,” he said.
Cadesky has also seen children under the age of five with COVID and has heard of some families choosing to travel to the US to vaccinate preschool children because children between six months and five years of age can be vaccinated in the US. in the US, but not yet in Canada.
Dix provided details on when and how those with third or fourth shots will be announced on an unspecified date.
BC and Alberta are the two western Atlantic Canadian provinces that limit the second booster to those over 70 years of age. Ontario’s limit is 60. In Manitoba and Saskatchewan, it’s 50 (the recommended age by the US Centers for Disease Control). Quebec offers second boosters to all adults. Most recommend a booster four to five months after the previous injection to maintain immunity against infection.
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Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization last week recommended second booster shots this fall before a possible new wave of COVID-19.
NACI said jurisdictions should plan to offer boosters to people who are at higher risk for severe illness from COVID, regardless of the number of booster doses they have previously received.
That would include people age 65 and older, residents of long-term care or housing facilities, and people age 12 and older with an existing medical condition that places them at high risk for severe COVID-19.
The recommendation also includes adults in indigenous, radicalized and marginalized communities where infection can have disproportionate consequences, as well as migrant worker accommodation, shelters, correctional facilities and group homes.
He said he will provide recommendations on the type of COVID-19 vaccine to be offered for this booster dose as evidence on appropriate vaccines becomes available.
Depending on when implementation begins, in early or late fall, some 60-year-old British Columbians who received their third injection in late 2021 could end up waiting almost twice the recommended BC interval between shots.
Meanwhile, statistics from the BC Ministry of Health show that 704,236 COVID doses, more than half of which are Pfizer injections, will expire at various times between July 20 and November 30, if not used for then.
