People who have been infected with the Omicron variant since Christmas do not have to rush for their 3rd dose, said Dr. Gaston De Serres, medical epidemiologist at the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ).
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“There was really no urgency to have this dose, what we should do is not to go for three months and have a minimum of at least eight weeks. someone who comes [d’avoir] Omicron is protected for the next few months, “assured the doctor in an interview Thursday at Qub radio.
The specialist thus recalled that people who have just had the virus still have good protection which does not fall off after just three months, hence the possibility of waiting longer before getting the booster dose.
“It will have no short-term consequences since we are heading towards a situation where we will have less and less transmission for the next few months. Next fall, it will be something else,” he said.
Still at risk of infection?
If the Legault government has unveiled a timetable for easing measures faster than expected, Dr. De Serres has argued that there are still risks of infection with COVID-19.
“Each time we make relaxations, there is a delay which is necessary to see what the impact will be in terms of transmission in the population”, he explained. “To put the relaxations one after the other in a tight way, it will not allow much to see what their impact is, and if it goes up it will manifest itself two, three, four weeks later”.
Transmission of the virus could thus increase if people decide to have more contact. As a result, hospitalizations could return to an upward trend, “but not to levels that were seen in December or January.”
“Yes the virus will continue to circulate in our population, what we want is for it to do as little damage as possible. And with the people who have received their 3rd dose in large numbers among people aged 60 and over, obviously the vast majority of the negative consequences are avoided, ”he added.