Back-to-school booster? What to know about fall COVID-19 vaccine guidance

COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses are expected to make a resurgence in the fall when schools reopen across Canada, experts are warning.

COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses are expected to make a resurgence in the fall when schools reopen across Canada, experts are warning.

After more than three years of COVID-19, reported cases have decreased or remained stable nationally.

However, that trajectory is likely to change with the virus rates increasing in the fall, particularly among children, as they congregate in schools and other indoor spaces, said Dr. Jesse Papenburg, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Montreal Children’s Hospital of the McGill University Health Centre.

“I think most people expect that there will be a certain amount of seasonality to COVID-19, and we do expect that the case counts will rise in the fall and winter,” he told Global News in an interview Wednesday.

“How much of a surge it will be remains to be seen.”

Scientists are keeping a close eye on a new subvariant of Omicron – named EG.5 – that accounts for the largest proportion of new COVID-19 cases in the United States and has recently made its way into Canada.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said in an update Wednesday that EG.5 has a “growth advantage” and “immune escape characteristics” which could cause a rise in COVID-19 cases, making this Omicron lineage the dominant version of the virus globally.

Vaccinations are the best way to protect families from infection as they reduce the risk of medically attended disease and hospitalization, Papenburg said.