Updated COVID-19 vaccines are being rolled out in pharmacies

With two new vaccines approved by Health Canada arriving at pharmacies, public health officials are encouraging those who need protection most to get the updated vaccines to help protect against the currently circulating variants that cause COVID-19.

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) says updated vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech are expected to arrive in provinces and territories next week. Pharmacies and public health units, or their local equivalents, will then distribute the products.

The updated mRNA vaccines target the Omicron subvariant known as KP.2. Based on Canadian viral sequence data, KP subvariants continue to dominate.

“The vaccines can reduce the risk of infection,” said Dr. Don Sheppard, vice-president of the agency’s infectious diseases and vaccination programs division, in an interview with CBC News. “They are particularly effective in reducing the severity of the disease.”

The initial hope was that COVID shots would do that stop the transmission didn’t work out at all.

Sheppard said the doses are important for people at higher risk of serious outcomes, such as individuals who:

• Be older than 65 years.
• Are immunocompromised.
• Have problems accessing health care, such as First Nations, Inuit and Métis people, especially those living on reserve.

‘I think shifting our focus to those individuals we really want to protect from serious consequences is a recognition of where we are other place right now.”

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Provide earlier vaccines and infections some protection.

But the continued contagiousness of the virus and waning immunity against infections due to poor absorption of the latest version of the vaccine throughout Canada Spring means all adults should consider getting the updated vaccine, other infectious disease doctors say.

“I think some of that has to do with messaging, but also vaccine fatigue and still misinformation around vaccines and the COVID-19 vaccines,” said Dr. Susy Hota, medical director of infection prevention and control at the University Health Network of Toronto.

The updated vaccines will also be available to anyone who wants them, Sheppard said. This includes previously vaccinated and unvaccinated persons aged six months and older.

Nationally, the COVID-19 indicators are stable elevated levels compared to spring.

Virus ‘won’t go away’

Sheppard said an advertising campaign will also reinforce the message to stay home when you are sick, use a mask if you cannot avoid being around others while you are sick, and cover up when you cough and sneeze .

Dr. Brian Conway, medical director of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre, noted that COVID did not disappear over the summer, and the virus has not settled into a seasonal pattern the way flu does every fall.

“It’s endemic. It’s not going away,” Conway said. “Our future will consist of appropriate annual vaccinations against flu and COVID.”

People can get COVID and flu vaccines on the same visitone in each arm, Conway said.

Custom messages

Conway and Hota also pointed out that COVID is still unpredictable.

“There’s a bigger picture here,” Hota said. “This is also about preventing the infection from being passed on to vulnerable people who you may come into contact with who may not even realize they are at greater risk, and also about maintaining the capacity of our healthcare system, which is under great strain state because of the past four years.”

Simon Bacon, a professor of behavioral medicine at Concordia University in Montreal who researches COVID-19 awareness and vaccine hesitancy, said it’s important now to tailor messages to different populations and communities.

“If you get COVID right now, you may have to miss work because a) you’re contagious, b) you’re not going to be very functional, etc.,” Bacon said.

Bacon advised federal, provincial and territorial governments to deliver a nuanced message to provide information relevant to and empower individuals.