B.C. unveils fall vax plan

B.C. residents will start receiving invitations as early as this week to book their COVID-19 fall booster shots as the trajectory of the pandemic remains uncertain in the coming months.

Another surge of COVID infections is expected in October and November, about the same time that influenza season will begin. Starting next month, people will be able to get their COVID-19 vaccination and influenza immunizations at the same time.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said it appears we are emerging from the pandemic, but “we are not yet at a point where we can let our guard down, both here and globally.”

There remains significant spread of the virus around the world and with the respiratory illness season still ahead, “we still have a very uncertain trajectory of the pandemic in the next few months,” she said, adding, “It is clear that COVID-19 will be with us long term.”

Health officials are encouraging everyone five and older to get a COVID-19 booster at the recommended interval — six months from the last COVID vaccine, three months since the last COVID infection for people who are vaccinated, and as soon as possible for people who have been infected but remain unvaccinated.

People in long-term care or assisted living may be offered their COVID-19 booster at five months to better co-ordinate with the influenza vaccination campaign.

Health officials say while we seem to emerging from the pandemic, it remains possible a new and different variant will emerge, requiring residents to remain on guard as the public health emergency continues.

The COVID-19 fall booster campaign will start as soon as Moderna’s bivalent vaccine — a combination of spike protein strains that target the original Wuhan virus and Omicron BA.1 subvariant — arrives.

The new vaccine was approved last week by Health Canada and is generally recommended for adults 18 and older. It is expected to arrive in B.C. by the end of this week.

Pharmacies will be the first to administer the boosters, with mass clinics and health authority clinics scheduled to start up on Sept. 19.

Priorities for the COVID-19 booster shots will be dictated by the time interval since a person received their last vaccine.