(Ottawa) The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) has expanded its eligibility guidelines for booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
The committee is now recommending mRNA boosters for people who have received two doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, adults over the age of 70, frontline healthcare workers who have had a short interval between their first two doses and to First Nations, Inuit and Métis people.
The most recent recommendation indicates that new evidence suggests that the vaccine’s effectiveness against asymptomatic infections and mild COVID-19 disease may decrease over time, and that a booster dose may help restore protection.
The committee continues to recommend that the booster doses be given six months after receipt of the first two doses.
The committee found no evidence of a widespread decline in immunity to serious illnesses in the general population.
British Columbia has already promised anyone in their province who wants a booster dose of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine to have it available by May 2022.