B.C.advancing time line for COVID-19 boosters

More British Columbians will be eligible for COVID-19 boosters early in the new year.

Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, said while the vaccines are effective at reducing the risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death, the protection does degrade over the course of several months. She added that with the rise of Omicron cases and the need to protect the workforce, the time line for people becoming eligible for a booster will be moving up.

Instead of being contacted eight months after receiving their second dose, all British Columbians will become eligible for their booster at the six month mark.

Executive lead of B.C.’s COVID-19 Immunization program, Dr. Penny Ballem, said the booster campaign had been focused on the most vulnerable groups such as the elderly and immunosuppressed or immunocompromised, people working on the front line of the health care system, people who received the AstraZeneca doses, and Indigenous peoples.

In an effort to advance the time line of the campaign, Ballem said the province will immediately invite all British Columbians aged 60 and over who received their second dose six months ago to get their booster.

“The invitations for everybody eligible will be out by the end of this week,” said Ballem.

“So our seniors [aged] 60 and over, our vulnerable [populations], those who are at risk or are very frail, people in our facilities, this is what we have focused on in the last weeks.”

She noted that other age groups were to be invited to get a booster six to eight months after receiving their second jab, but with the onset of Omicron, the needs have changed.

Ballem said the first two jabs have been very successful in preventing severe illness when infected with the mutated strain, though did add that the booster provides the antibodies needed as immunity decreases over time, and the time line has been adjusted to get the rest of the population their third dose as close as possible to the six month mark.

“Now that our vulnerable and seniors are protected, we’re moving to an interval based invitation process,” said Ballem.

“People getting to six months, regardless of their age, between 18 and 59, will be getting an invite as close as we can to that date.”

Currently, there is a backlog of about 800,000 British Columbians unde the age of 60 who have already passed the six month mark, and they will be prioritized for booster invitations.

“I also want to say that people who are pregnant we know are at higher risk of severe illness from COVID that can affect both them and their baby, which means we are now prioritizing your access as well to booster doses,” said Henry.

“If you are pregnant and at six months after your second dose, you are eligible now for your booster dose, regardless of your age. But, we don’t know who you are, so you will have to contact the call centre at 1-833-838-2323, and self-identify that you are pregnant, and you’ll be able to book your booster dose in the coming days.”

Since its launch on October 27, 2021, a total of 1.16-million booster invitations have been sent out, and 905,784 boosters have been administered.

Ballem added that there are 720 locations across the province where British Columbians can get the booster, including 514 pharmacies, and that more will be opening in the new year. Ballem said they hope to increase the number of pharmacies where British Columbians can get their third jab up to 1,100 in January.

“As we turn to the next phase of our campaign, we have been working hard over the past two weeks to increase capacity into January through February and, hopefully, to bring our booster campaign to an even sooner conclusion.”