4th COVID-19 vaccine dose: What’s the science behind another booster?
Global News
An additional dose can increase protection for the immunocompromised but it’s too early to give the general population a fourth COVID-19 shot, experts say.
Patricia Flemming says she is feeling more motivated and less fearful of catching COVID-19 after getting her booster shots.
The 71-year-old is among the 87 residents at Chester Village to have received a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose since Dec. 30 at the Toronto nursing home.
“The third one, I noticed a bit of fatigue,” said Flemming, who is a retired nurse from Nova Scotia.
Chester Village was one of the first long-term care homes in Ontario to fully vaccinate almost all of its residents against the coronavirus last January. And now a year later, the not-for-profit facility is offering all eligible residents the Moderna vaccine as a fourth dose.
As the highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19 surges across the country, Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) has recommended that moderately or severely immunocompromised Canadians may receive a second booster or fourth shot at least six months after their last dose.
“Many of these individuals are at a higher risk of severe outcomes of COVID-19 and also at increased risk of decreasing protection over time since vaccination,” NACI said in its updated guidance released on Dec. 3.
Besides long-term care homes, the Ontario government is making fourth doses available to residents of the province’s retirement homes, elder care lodges and other congregate settings.
Meanwhile, Manitoba is recommending a fourth dose for “moderately to severely immunocompromised individuals” at least six months after the last received dose.