British Columbians who are vaccinated against COVID-19 will be able to get a third booster dose, if they want it, between six to eight months after they got their second dose.
Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry says people who are considered higher risk will be prioritized before the province moves to the broader population in mid-January.
“We started [our vaccine rollout last year] with those who are most at risk so seniors and elders in long term care, our seniors in the community, Indigenous population where we were seeing higher rates of transmission and infection and severe illness,” she said Tuesday. “Those people were more likely to get a shorter dose interval as well, so those are the people who are at higher risk of having a decreased protection by now and at higher risk of having severe illness.”
Henry says the announcement of the booster shots comes as some of those people are at a point where their immunity is waning, just ahead of flu season.
“This third dose this booster gives longer lasting protection that may last for years that is our hope but we don’t yet know that,” she added. “The immunity we get from these vaccines wanes a little bit over time but it doesn’t fall off a cliff. It is not like you are no longer protected at all, it slowly goes down over time. We have good strong immunity for most people.”
“We’ll be making this as available as we can to you and I absolutely recommend that you take this booster.”
Earlier this month, the province started offering booster shots to people in long-term care and assisted living homes. By and large, people over the age of 70 should expect to get this third dose before the end of the year.
In her weekly COVID-19 briefing, Henry also said that two doses will still continue to be the standard when it comes to being considered fully vaccinated in the province.
“It will be optional for most of us in the new year. It will give us more durable protection,” she said. “Right now, I don’t have enough information to say it will be necessary to all of us.”
People being urged to register for third doses
Meanwhile, Dr. Penny Ballem, the executive lead of B.C.’s COVID-19 vaccine roll out says people will be offered either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine for this booster shot as the two vaccines are interchangeable.
“There’s not any necessity to align the booster shot and vaccine with what you got as dose one and dose two and we know many people already received a mixed vaccination program with Moderna and Pfizer and in some cases AstraZeneca and an mRNA vaccine,” she said.
These third doses will be available at community clinics and pharmacies, and Ballem says British Columbians who have registered will be contacted when they are eligible for a third dose.
“We’re not going to allow drop ins for a booster dose. Drop-ins can provide quite a pressure on our clinics and gum up the flow of patients or residents who are coming in,” she added. “And so we are really going to encourage people to book your vaccination online or through the call centre.”
There have been 90,425 third doses already administered in the province as of Monday, Oct. 25, according to the provincial government.
They also say over 90 per cent of British Columbians are already registered in the province’s Get Vaccinated system.
