(Ottawa) The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) announced Tuesday that Canadians should receive another booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in the fall if it has been at least six months since their last dose or since infection with the virus.
“Booster doses given in the fall will be updated formulations to target newer variants of SARS-CoV-2, which more easily evade the immune system,” the NACI guidelines state.
“People vaccinated with the updated formulation should experience a better immune response against these variants compared to current vaccines. »
NACI continues to urge anyone five years of age and older who has not yet been vaccinated to receive a two-dose series of an mRNA vaccine.
He also released a “discretionary recommendation” for children aged six months to five years who have not yet been vaccinated to receive a primary series of an mRNA vaccine.
Bivalent mRNA vaccines containing Omicron can be used for people receiving their first two-dose series of vaccine, NACI said.
This fall’s vaccination is “particularly important for people at increased risk of COVID-19 infection or severe disease,” according to the NACI document.
These vulnerable groups include adults 65 years of age or older, residents of long-term care facilities and other congregate living settings, people with underlying medical conditions, pregnant people, members of First Nations communities , Métis and Inuit, racialized people and people who provide essential community services.
The mRNA vaccines available in Canada are manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
Although mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are “preferred,” NACI said Novavax’s Nuvaxovid should be offered as a booster vaccine for adults 18 years of age and older “who are unwilling or unable to receive a vaccine at mRNA”.
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