With summer officially kicking off in Canada this week, travel, weddings, BBQs and other social events are on the table. Should a COVID-19 booster be part of your summer holiday plans?
Experts who spoke to Global News say it’s a good time to get one if you haven’t already.
After more than three years of COVID-19, new cases have decreased or plateaued in Canada – and so has the vaccine uptake.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared in May that COVID-19 was no longer considered a global health emergency but cautioned that the virus still poses a threat.
Canada is in a “much better” place right now than before, yet COVID-19 is still a “significant contributor to hospitalization and death,” said Dr. Allison McGeer, an infectious disease physician at Sinai Health System in Toronto.
And as the summer holiday period gets underway, it’s a “really good time” for Canadians to update their vaccine protection, especially if they’re travelling, when exposure to other people is highest, McGeer told Global News in an interview.
“If you’re planning to spend the summer travelling and you don’t want to spend three days with feeling miserable in some hospital somewhere, that’s a good reason to get your COVID booster,” she said.
While more than 80 per cent of the population has received a primary series – two or more mRNA vaccine doses – the booster uptake remains relatively low this year in the country.
In the last sixth months, roughly 13 per cent of Canadians completed their primary series or got a booster dose, according to the latest available government data from May.
Most people have existing immunity from either exposure to the virus, prior vaccination or both, said Dr. Samuel Gutman, an ER doctor in Vancouver and chief medical officer of Rockdoc Consulting Inc.
“There’s certainly a lot of fatigue amongst the population with regard to COVID,” he said in an interview with Global News.
“People really want it behind them and don’t want to think about it.”
But the decision to vaccinate against an infectious disease like COVID-19 is an “important one,” given that there are still some risks for the general population, he added.
Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommends a booster dose six months after the last dose of a primary series or COVID infection – whichever is later – for everyone aged five years old and up.
But so far, (NACI) has only recommended additional COVID-19 booster shots for those who are at an increased risk of severe illness, including seniors, long-term care residents and immunocompromised adults.
The recommended time to get a booster is at least six months after the last COVID-19 vaccine dose or infection because immunity wanes over time, according to NACI.
McGeer said getting a COVID-19 vaccine is “not as critical as it once was,” but it still offers a significant amount of protection.
For younger and otherwise healthy adults, a booster shot is like “buying insurance,” said McGeer, that could help protect both them and other older, immunocompromised people they interact with.
NACI released new interim COVID-19 guidance this month, saying that the bivalent Omicron vaccine could be given to people aged six months and older who have yet to be vaccinated with a primary series.
The Omicron-containing vaccine was previously approved as a booster.
“As regulatory submissions are submitted and reviewed by Heath Canada in the coming months, vaccine schedules and/or dosages may change for some age groups,” NACI said in its June 9 update.
The highly transmissible Omicron variant is still circulating in Canada, but it has undergone multiple mutations.
New Omicron recombinant strains named XBB, which are growing nationally and worldwide, now make up a majority of the COVID-19 cases detected in Canada.
The bivalent vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna that are available in Canada right now target the BA.1, BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of Omicron that were most common last year.
In the United States, scientific advisers to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are endorsing updating COVID-19 vaccines to target the latest Omicron strains.
The FDA is leaning toward picking a fall shot recipe that targets just XBB. The hope is that the XBB variants are different enough to spark the immune system to make more diverse, cross-protective virus-fighting antibodies.
The World Health Organization’s vaccine advisers and European regulators recently made similar recommendations.
McGeer said the bivalent boosters from last year are still effective against current strains that are circulating, but a shift toward an XBB-containing booster in the fall will give more protection against the virus.
It is likely that Canada will need another COVID booster campaign in the fall, when respiratory viruses make a comeback, said McGeer. But it remains to be seen which vaccines will be used for that.
“We want to change and decide on the booster at the last possible moment and we’re at the last possible moment because it takes about three months to make vaccines and have them ready to go,” she said.
People who are interested in getting a COVID-19 booster in Canada can book an appointment through their local pharmacies and some family doctors.
— with files from The Associated Press
PORT ALBERNI, B.C. – RCMP say the body of a second person has been found inside their vehicle after a road washed away amid pouring rain on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Police say two vehicles went into the Sarita River when Bamfield Road washed out on Saturday as an atmospheric river hammered southern B.C.
The body of the other driver was found Sunday.
More coming.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
The B.C. Greens say Sonia Furstenau will be staying on as party leader, despite losing her seat in the legislature in Saturday’s provincial election.
The party says in a statement that its two newly elected MLAs, Jeremy Valeriote and Rob Botterell, support Furstenau’s leadership as they “navigate the prospect of having the balance of power in the legislature.”
Neither the NDP led by Premier David Eby nor the B.C. Conservatives led by John Rustad secured a majority in the election, with two recounts set to take place from Oct. 26 to 28.
Eby says in a news conference that while the election outcome is uncertain, it’s “very likely” that the NDP would need the support of others to pass legislation.
He says he reached out to Furstenau on election night to congratulate her on the Greens’ showing.
But he says the Green party has told the NDP they are “not ready yet” for a conversation about a minority government deal.
The Conservatives went from taking less than two per cent of the vote in 2020 to being elected or leading in 45 ridings, two short of a majority and only one behind the NDP.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Toronto FC captain Jonathan Osorio is making a difference, 4,175 kilometres away from home.
The 32-year-old Canadian international midfielder, whose parents hail from Colombia, has been working with the Canadian Colombian Children’s Organization, a charity whose goal is to help disadvantaged youth in the South American country.
Osorio has worked behind the scenes, with no fanfare.
Until now, with his benevolence resulting in becoming Toronto FC’s nominee for the Audi Goals Drive Progress Impact Award, which honours an MLS player “who showed outstanding dedication to charitable efforts and serving the community” during the 2024 season.”
Other nominees include Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Sebastian Berhalter and CF Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois.
The winner will be announced in late November.
The Canadian Colombian Children’s Organization (CCCO) is run entirely by volunteers like Monica Figueredo and Claudia Soler. Founded in 1991, it received charitable status in 2005.
The charity currently has four projects on the go: two in Medellin and one each in Armenia and Barranquilla.
They include a school, a home for young girls whose parents are addicted to drugs, after-school and weekend programs for children in a disadvantaged neighbourhood, and nutrition and education help for underprivileged youth.
The organization heard about Osorio and was put in contact with him via an intermediary, which led to a lunch meeting. Osorio did his due diligence and soon got back to the charity with his decision.
“It was something that I wanted to be a part of right away,” said Osorio, whose lone regret is that he didn’t get involved sooner.
“I’m fortunate now that to help more now that I could have back then,” he added. “The timing actually worked out for everybody. For the last three years I have donated to their cause and we’ve built a couple of (football) fields in different cities over there in the schools.”
His father visited one of the sites in Armenia close to his hometown.
“He said it was amazing, the kids, how grateful they are to be able to play on any pitch, really,” said Osorio. “But to be playing on a new pitch, they’re just so grateful and so humble.
“It really makes it worth it being part of this organization.”
The collaboration has also made Osorio take stock.
“We’re very fortunate here in Canada, I think, for the most part. Kids get to go to school and have a roof over their head and things like that. In Colombia, it’s not really the same case. My father and his family grew up in tough conditions, so giving back is like giving back to my father.”
Osorio’s help has been a godsend to the charity.
“We were so surprised with how willing he was,” said Soler.
The TFC skipper has helped pay for a football field in Armenia as well as an ambitious sports complex under construction in Barranquilla.
“It’s been great for them,” Figueredo said of the pitch in Armenia. “Because when they go to school, now they have a proper place to train.”
Osorio has also sent videos encouraging the kids to stay active — as well as shipping soccer balls and signed jerseys their way.
“They know more about Jonathan than the other players in Colombia,” Figueredo said. “That’s the funny part. Even though he’s far away, they’ve connected with him.”
“They feel that they have a future, that they can do more,” she added. “Seeing that was really, really great.”
The kids also followed Osorio through the 2022 World Cup and this summer’s Copa America.
Back home, Osorio has also attended the charity’s annual golf tournament, helping raise funds.
A Toronto native, he has long donated four tickets for every TFC home game to the Hospital for Sick Children.
Vancouver’s Berhalter was nominated for his involvement in the Whitecaps’ partnership with B.C. Children’s Hospital while Montreal’s Sirois was chosen for his work with the Montreal Impact Foundation.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
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