The day after the green light from public health for the injection of the fourth doses of vaccine against COVID-19, the Committee on Immunization of Quebec (CIQ) spoke out on the “vaccine strategy” to be adopted to “optimize longer-term control of COVID-19”.
“Rather than vaccinating the maximum number of people as quickly as possible with the highest possible number of doses, a longer-term vision must be considered with a view to transitioning from an epidemic situation to an endemic situation”, argue the Quebec experts in their twenty-page opinion.
Especially since “the rapid implementation of an immunization program with 2 booster doses has few advantages”, according to them. New antiviral treatments, the hope of new generations of vaccines and the possibility of a new variant could thwart any decision too hasty, they say.
The “priority objective” of the members of the CIQ lies in “the prevention of deaths, hospitalizations and long COVID-19”. Since these complications are found mainly in older people, the fourth immune booster must therefore mainly target these categories of people.
In fact, nearly 95% of deaths among hospitalized people occur in people aged 60 and over. The latter represent two-thirds of Quebecers hospitalized for COVID-19.
Not only does the need for a new dose increase with age, but “the older you get, the greater the acceptability [pour la 4e dose] is progressing”, observes the president of the CIQ, Dr. Nicholas Brousseau, in an interview with the Homework. He recalls that the third dose is still very effective and that Quebec should not neglect the first three inoculations. “Three doses work very well and provide 90% protection against the Omicron variant,” he says. It cuts our risk of having a serious problem by ten times. »
Given the current resurgence of contamination, the CIQ deems it “justifiable” to deploy the fourth dose “rapidly” to the elderly, as announced on Wednesday by Quebec. But in the event of a new, even more virulent variant or a weakening of immunity in the population, it is “very likely” that a second booster dose will be necessary for more individuals.
In this case, a vaccination campaign before the start of the school year should be considered, because contact at school causes an increase in contamination. The other option is to combine annual seasonal flu shots with those for COVID-19. This approach “would present significant advantages in terms of acceptability and feasibility”, in addition to both targeting the same type of vulnerable clientele, according to the experts.
The proposed interval of 3 months or more between infection and vaccination should also apply for the 2nd booster. Dr. Brousseau expects to “propose more precise parameters this summer” around this new health impetus.