Starting Monday, Saskatchewan residents 18 and older can get a second booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as long as they received their previous dose at least four months ago. However, plans in Canada and the US to potentially switch to a bivalent vaccine – which would target both the original strain and one of the Omicron strains – may lead some people to wait until they get their fourth vaccination. Saskatoon resident Natasha Williamson said she considered waiting, but decided to cancel her booster shot, thinking of it as a present for her 40th birthday. “Like that old saying, a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush,” Williamson said. “I feel like a shot now, even if it’s not the most specifically targeted shot, is going to be even more useful to me than a shot that we’re not really sure when it’s going to come up or if it’s going to come up. , or when I would actually be eligible.”
Waiting for the 4th shot is fine, says Shahab
Last week, Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Health Officer, Dr. Saqib Shahab, said people who qualify for the second booster shot can either do it now or wait until the fall for a potential bivalent vaccine to be available. “And that’s fine,” he said of the wait. Like Williamson, Angela Rasmussen also plans to get the second booster shot as soon as possible because it’s unclear when the bivalent vaccines will be available in Canada. “The current booster vaccines we have are not as specific as they could be for the variants that are out there now, specifically the BA.5 subtype of the Omicron family,” said the virologist and researcher at the University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine. and Infectious Diseases Agency. “However, we know that the original prescription boosters that we have now actually greatly increase your protection against Omicron infection, as well as actually increasing your protection against serious illness and possibly death.”
UK regulator first approves Moderna’s updated COVID-19 booster
The mRNA vaccines provide the information cells need to make a coronavirus protein, which then triggers the body’s immune system to respond and help protect against infection by the virus that causes COVID-19, according to the federal government. Bivalent vaccines have two mRNAs (messenger RNA) in them, which code for two different spike proteins, Rasmussen said. On Monday, drug regulators in Great Britain became the first in the world to approve an updated version of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine that aims to protect against both the original virus and the Omicron BA.1 variant. LISTEN | Angela Rasmussen spoke with guest host Peter Mills on Saskatoon Morning: Saskatoon Morning8:55As eligibility for the second COVID-19 booster expands, a virologist explains the land of an updated vaccine and current vaccines Host Peter Mills talks with Angela Rasmussen, a virologist and researcher at the University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Diseases Agency. It helps us understand the difference between the current vaccine and those under development. The United States has not approved this bivalent vaccine, Rasmussen said. In June, the US Food and Drug Administration told vaccine manufacturers that any booster vaccines modified for the fall should include protection against the newer Omicron variants, namely BA.4 and BA.5, not the BA.1 subvariant that included in the latest version of Moderna shot. Last month, the FDA said it was no longer considering approving a second COVID-19 booster for all adults, but would instead focus on revamped vaccines for the fall that target newer viral subvariants. According to the World Health Organization, the latest global increase in COVID-19 is due to the BA.5 subvariant of Omicron, which is even more infectious than the original version of Omicron. Both Moderna and Pfizer are currently making updated versions of their vaccine to include BA.5 in addition to the original COVID-19 virus. “I really encourage people when these bivalent vaccines, whether they’re specific for BA.1 or BA.5, become available in Canada, for people to go get one of those,” Rasmussen said. “This should really, really increase protection against infection from everywhere, which will help reduce transmission and certainly help reduce the overall burden of COVID in our communities.” In June, Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommended that only those at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19 should be offered a booster shot this fall in anticipation of a future wave. Many provinces and territories, including Saskatchewan, have already moved to offer fourth doses of primary vaccines this summer. NACI said it will provide recommendations on the type of booster to be given when data are available on multivalent vaccines.
Many people in Sask. have not received a 1st booster shot
Rasmussen still thinks it’s a good idea for people in the province to get their booster shot as soon as they’re eligible, rather than potentially waiting months for a bivalent shot. Shahab and Rasmussen both said many people in the province have yet to receive their first booster shots. Fewer than 50 percent of adults in the province have gotten their first souvenir, according to Shahab. “I would encourage them to at least take their first booster and not wait for bivalents,” she said. Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Saqib Shahab, spoke to the media in Regina on Saturday, saying less than 50 per cent of adults had received the first souvenir. (Matthew Howard/Radio-Canada) Immunity appears to wane over time, and giving booster doses appears to provide increased protection against serious illness, hospitalization and death, Shahab said. “There are still very high levels of virus across Canada and in Saskatchewan,” Rasmussen said. “I really recommend that you go get at least that first booster shot, because when these updated boosters come out in a few months, people who got a shot now will quickly be eligible for those shots as well.”
