The administration of a booster dose of Pfizer and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines in adults was given the green light on Friday from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), which sets the minimum time required at six months since the last injection. An opinion from the Committee on Immunization of Quebec (CIQ) should follow in the coming days.
The committee recommends that a booster dose of a messenger RNA vaccine – either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna – “can be offered six months or more after the completion of a primary vaccine series against COVID-19 to adults aged 18 to 49, ”read the guidance document released on Friday.
In its report, the NACI also insists in particular on its “strong recommendation” which is to offer as a priority to adults aged 50 and over a booster dose “six months or more after the completion of a primary vaccination series. against COVID-19 ”- Ontario, already, did not wait before doing so, having announced this expansion on Thursday.
“Recently, the evidence suggests that the actual effectiveness of vaccines against infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, declines over time after completion of the primary series. A booster dose could help restore protection against infection which may have waned over time, ”the committee researchers write.
NACI is finally suggesting booster shots for people who have received a full series of doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Janssen vaccine, First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities, and frontline healthcare workers. Further update: People between the ages of 18 and 29 should now be given the Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty vaccine, as the rates of myocarditis and pericarditis are lower than reported for the dose of Spikevax by Moderna.
On hold in Quebec
In Quebec, CIQ experts submitted their formal recommendations to the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) on Friday, confirmed to Press the Dr Gaston De Serres, epidemiologist at the National Institute of Public Health (INSPQ), who sits on the committee. “It should go public early next week. The ministry is looking at that, will make its decisions and will decide what it wants to do, ”he said on this subject.
At a press briefing, Minister Christian Dubé spoke of “very good news”. “We were waiting for the response from NACI. The Dr Arruda was at the meeting yesterday, so we asked him to have an answer in the next few hours to be sure that we have additional information from the CIQ, ”he said.
“I hope to be able to tell you something early next week. I was watching Ontario, they announced it yesterday but with an effective date, I think mid-December, so we are sure we are all eager to start. I quickly saw that we are talking about 50 years and over and that it is not recommended for 18 to 49, but we say that it can be done, so that’s why I would rather hear the Dr Arruda on this point ”, however specified Mr. Dubé.
Via Twitter, the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) however recalled that “despite the advice of NACI, for the moment in Quebec, the additional dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is only offered to people 70 years and over ”.
On the background of Omicron
These recommendations come as the new Omicron variant continues to worry authorities around the world, including in Canada.
“Is the Omicron variant going to be more dominant?” We do not know. We see maybe in South Africa, in a few countries, where it’s starting to be, but it’s difficult to compare with here in Canada ”, explained Friday the Dr Howard Njoo, deputy chief public health officer of Canada, at a press conference, saying that the “demographic structure” and the Canadian immunization coverage are very different.
“We continue to monitor the situation closely and we will adapt as we go. But today, if you are part of a priority population, therefore really people aged 50 years, it is very important to have a booster dose ”, also indicated the Dr Njoo.
For her part, the Chief Public Health Officer, the DD Theresa Tam, said these booster announcements were not directly related to the emergence of the Omicron variant, of which 11 cases have so far been identified in Canada. However, she said it was “good timing”, especially as cases of infection have been on the rise in the country for some time. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assured earlier this week that Canada has a sufficient supply of vaccines to offer a booster dose to all Canadians who want it.