Quebec’s advice on booster shots ‘doesn't make a whole lot of sense,’ public health experts say

Some public health experts are questioning Quebec’s official advice that double-vaccinated people who have just recovered from COVID-19 to get a third dose of the vaccine 'as soon as possible.'

In the span of just a couple of months, the province's recommended waiting time between contracting COVID-19 and getting a booster shot went from eight weeks to as soon as your symptoms end.

So, what changed? According to the province, the new guidance is a result of the lack of testing capacity in recent weeks — without the ability to know for sure who had COVID-19, the province wants to err on the side of giving more boosters to more people, even if this goes against the advice of its own medical advisers.

The new advice comes as thousands of new cases have been reported daily through much of December into January during the height of the Omicron surge in the province, but it's puzzling some experts.

“The idea of getting a booster after you had an infection, that's a true COVID infection, doesn't make a whole lot of sense,” said Jamie Scott, a molecular immunologist and professor emeritus at Simon Fraser University.