Quebec’s slow launch of COVID-19 booster puzzles some experts

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As Quebecers are left in limbo wondering if and when they will be eligible for a COVID-19 booster shot, some experts wonder why the province is taking so long to devise a clear plan.

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On Thursday, Health Minister Christian Dubé said that once health workers and people over 60 have received reinforcements, the province will move to the younger population. But he has also said that he is awaiting the advice of the Committee sur l’immunisation du Québec (CIQ), one of whose members told the Canadian press yesterday that the province may not recommend a third dose of the COVID vaccine to those under 60 years of age. , depending on the virulence. of the Omicron variant.

Dr. Caroline Quach-Thanh, from the Quebec Immunization Committee, said that if the variant causes mild infections, “maybe what I should do is let people get it and as long as it doesn’t cause hospitalization and death, that increases. immunity naturally and that protects the population. “

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Dr André Veillette, an immunologist at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute, said Quebec’s rollout of boosters so far has been “slow and unclear.”

He said that the third doses should be accessible to all “because they are available, they are recommended and people have the right to receive them.”

“Unfortunately, once again, the provinces are incompatible with each other and are incompatible with what NACI (National Advisory Committee on Immunization) advises,” Veillette said. “In Quebec, of course, we are the defenders of that, due to inconsistency with the guidelines that come from elsewhere.”

In addition to recommending boosters for Canadians over 50 (and other groups), NACI has suggested that a third dose can be offered to people over 18 (at least six months after their second dose). The recommendations came after Health Canada authorized the booster for adults.

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Veillette said that we must not allow people to get sick, regardless of how mild the disease is, when we have the technology to prevent it.

“That is one of the goals of vaccines: suppress transmission, prevent even mild diseases,” he said. “This is the advantage of medicine … is that we have tools to prevent even nasty diseases that do not necessarily kill you, but that variant could still kill some people and could still cause a prolonged COVID and still could, when circulating .. . mutate into something even worse. “

Dr. Matthew Oughton, an infectious disease specialist at Jewish General Hospital, said he is concerned that the understaffing Quebec is experiencing in vaccine clinics, which is why those over 60 are unable to make appointments. until January, it will remain a problem.

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“This sounds like a bottleneck that will continue to reduce the rate at which we can get reinforcements in various groups in the population,” he said. “Right now it is not being prioritized as something that requires redistribution of resources, but that is preparing us for eventually, in the context of an increasing number of cases in the community with waning immunity, this is preparing us for a greater risk of more serious disease as time passes, until we remove those boosters, so the delay will come at a cost. “

Veillette and Oughton said that emphasis should also be placed on other ways to reduce transmission in Quebec, such as using rapid tests, continuing to wear masks and ensuring adequate ventilation.

“Even though people may feel like they’re done with COVID-19, COVID-19 is clearly not done with us,” Oughton said. “So we still have to face that reality, even if it is not a pleasant reality.”

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