COVID-19 boosters recommended for the fall, Canada's vaccine advisory body says
CBC
People at high risk of severe disease from COVID-19 infection should be offered a booster shot this fall, regardless of how many boosters they've previously received, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) said on Wednesday.
That group includes everyone age 65 and older, NACI's updated guidance said.
Everyone else — age 12 to 64 — "may be offered" the additional doses in the fall, NACI said.
NACI said it will provide recommendations on the type of booster to be given when evidence about multivalent vaccines — which prime the body's defences against multiple variants, including Omicron and its subvariants — becomes available.
"Manufacturers are working on new COVID-19 vaccines, including multivalent vaccines and vaccines specifically targeting VOCs [variants of concern], although their exact characteristics and timing of availability in Canada are not yet known," NACI said.
World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement on Wednesday that Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 have caused COVID-19 case numbers to rise in 110 countries, "causing overall global cases to increase by 20 per cent."
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, has also said those Omicron subvariants appear to be on the rise in this country.
On Tuesday, advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended that the next wave in COVID-19 booster shots should include a component that targets Omicron to combat the more recently circulating subvariants.
NACI recommended that booster shots happen in the fall because, as with other respiratory viruses, "incidence of COVID-19 may increase in the later fall and winter seasons," and new variants of concern could emerge.
In addition to those 65 years and older, NACI strongly recommends a fall booster for:
Health officials emphasize that three doses of the current approved vaccines continue to provide good protection against severe COVID-19 illness, hospitalization and death.
This story is part of CBC Health's Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here.
Lac La Ronge Indian Band's Woodland Wellness Centre has received funding to start a mobile addictions outreach program to address the opioid and mental health crisis.
Adriana Avelina Ruíz Márquez uses fake eyelash glue to attach a tiny transmitter to the thorax, just behind the head, of the monarch butterfly.
After several delays to the mission that will take four astronauts around the moon, NASA held a press conference today announcing that Artemis II is on track to launch as early as April 1.
Snuneymuxw First Nation is calling for a temporary closure and environmental investigation of a hazardous waste services company following a January oil spill on Duke Point near Nanaimo, B.C.
In February, five people were killed in separate avalanches across B.C. and Alberta. That same month, more than a dozen people were killed in California and Utah, including a particularly deadly avalanche that claimed the lives of nine. In Europe, from Andorra to Slovakia, the season has recorded 125 deaths from avalanches so far.
Getting a proper vehicle to transport people for urgent medical care is an ongoing challenge in fly-in First Nations in northwestern Ontario.
A new supergroup of musicians from Six Nations of the Grand River and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation have collaborated on a Robbie Robertson-inspired song they will perform at the Junos Honouring Ceremony later this month in Hamilton.
People as young as 45 should be invited to provincial and territorial programs to screen for colorectal cancer, the Canadian Cancer Society urged on Wednesday.
The Métis Nation-Saskatchewan (MN-S) has opened an office and retail space in Ottawa to create a stronger presence in the capital since removing itself from the Métis National Council in 2024.
Toronto resident Winhan Wong's lung cancer journey began in 2016, with a nagging cough that just wouldn't go away.
Last month, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak pointed out on social media that history was made this year because there are a record 164 female chiefs serving across the country.
Most of humanity has a great propensity to think in the short-term, but generally, long-term considerations — air pollution, deforestation and emissions, for example — just aren't our thing.