Studies have shown young people who received their doses three weeks apart were well protected against COVID-19.
Author of the article:
René Bruemmer
Yann Fraioli, 13, gets vaccinated by nurse El Mahfoud Mourouane during a walk-in vaccination clinic outside the Bell Centre prior to a Canadiens playoff game last month.Photo by John Mahoney /Montreal Gazette
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Quebec plans to allow adolescents age 12 to 17 to move up online appointments for their second COVID-19 vaccinations doses soon, health ministry officials say. The delay between first and second doses will probably be reduced from the current eight weeks to four.
On Tuesday, spokespeople with Quebec’s health department said they are awaiting a notice “shortly” from the provincial immunization committee concerning moving up doses. The same message was tweeted by Health Minister Christian Dubé.
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❗️Devancement rdv 2e dose 12-17 ans
➡️Pour l’instant, il n’est pas possible de devancer son rdv sur Clic santé pour ce groupe d’âge. ➡️La recommandation est 8 semaines et + entre 2 doses, mais on attend un avis de la Santé publique pour harmoniser l’intervalle à 4 semaines et +.
The accelerated timeline would move Quebec into step with Ontario and other jurisdictions that are allowing children to get their second vaccination within four weeks. Quebec shortened the allowed time between doses for adults this week, as more vaccines became available. At present, teenagers who go to walk-in clinics are being allowed a second dose in under eight weeks.
The accelerated rate may help Quebec reach its goal of having 75 per cent of the eligible population adequately vaccinated by Sept. 1 so students can return to a mostly normal school year.
But the shift has some parents asking whether their children would be better served with a month wait between doses, or two, or even forgoing the second vaccination altogether. Reports of rare cases of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, in people under 30 who received a second dose have also raised fears.
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Dr. Catherine Hankins, co-chair of the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force for Canada and professor of epidemiology at McGill University, noted Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommends everyone age 12 to 18 receive two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the only one approved for children 12 and over in Canada. Studies out of the United States on which NACI based its recommendations found that overall young people were well immunized with both the shorter and longer delays between doses.
“The response is better at eight weeks but the trials for 12- to 15-year-olds with Pfizer were three weeks delays between doses (as with adults) and showed excellent responses four weeks after the second dose,” Hankins wrote in an email. One week after the second dose, the vaccine was found to be 100 per cent effective with the test group of 1,131 adolescents. Even after one dose, only three members of the group tested positive for COVID-19, and that was within 11 days of receiving their injection, before a full immune response to the vaccine was expected. None were infected after the 11-day period.
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Although children typically don’t get seriously ill from COVID-19, it can happen — in Canada, 13 people under the age of 19 have died, and roughly 1,400 were hospitalized — and the seemingly healthy can spread the disease to the unprotected.
Given the rise of more transmissible variants, and the fact young people tend to circulate, Dr. Nima Machouf said she recommends getting a second dose as soon as possible.
“Yes, each timeline has its own advantages, depending on the situation,” said Machouf, an epidemiologist and professor at the Université de Montréal’s school of public health. “If you wait longer between doses, the strength and longevity of the immunization might be slightly stronger, but even after three weeks the immunity will still be very good.
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“It’s a population that moves about and has a lot of contact. If we want to reduce transmission, they must be vaccinated as soon as possible.”
So far, 71 per cent of 12-17 year olds have received a first dose. In Quebec as a whole, 82 per cent of the total eligible population have received a first dose, and 35 per cent are considered adequately vaccinated.
A preliminary study out of Israel found 12-15 year olds were 100 per cent covered after one Pfizer dose, three weeks after their vaccination. But the authors cautioned a second dose was advised for those at risk of a serious infection or who wished to travel.
“If we were not worried about these more transmissible variants, I would say wait eight weeks, but since we are starting to see surges of the Delta variant around the world, I would say we have to bring down the wait time,” said Christos Karatzios, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist with the Montreal Children’s Hospital. Cases of myocarditis have been very rare, and treatable, he said. Even Israel is recommending two doses for youth, because it produces more antibodies and greater protection against variants.
“We know it’s with two doses that we have the best kind of immunity. We need to try to get as many people vaccinated as possible to get to that 75 per cent, that level of herd immunity that will stop transmission.”
Alberta Health Services (AHS) has confirmed a case of measles in Edmonton, and is advising the public that the individual was out in public while infectious.
Measles is an extremely contagious disease that is spread easily through the air, and can only be prevented through immunization.
AHS says individuals who were in the following locations during the specified dates and times, may have been exposed to measles.
April 16
Edmonton International Airport, international arrivals and baggage claim area — between 3:20 p.m. and 6 p.m.
April 20
Stollery Children’s Hospital Emergency Department — between 5 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Pharmacy 66 (13637 66 St NW Edmonton) — between 12:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
April 23
Stollery Children’s Hospital Emergency Department — between 4:40 a.m. to 9:33 a.m.
AHS says anyone who attended those locations during those times is at risk of developing measles if they’ve not had two documented doses of measles-containing vaccine.
Those who have not had two doses, who are pregnant, under one year of age, or have a weakened immune system are at greatest risk of getting measles and should contact Health Link at 1-877-720-0707.
Symptoms
Symptoms of measles include a fever of 38.3° C or higher, cough, runny nose, and/or red eyes, a red blotchy rash that appears three to seven days after fever starts, beginning behind the ears and on the face and spreading down the body and then to the arms and legs.
If you have any of these symptoms stay home and call Health Link.
In Alberta, measles vaccine is offered, free of charge, through Alberta’s publicly funded immunization program. Children in Alberta typically receive their first dose of measles vaccine at 12 months of age, and their second dose at 18 months of age.
Infected cows were already prohibited from being transported out of state, but that was based on the physical characteristics of the milk, which looks curdled when a cow is infected, or a cow has decreased lactation or low appetite, both symptoms of infection.
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