Booster shots for COVID-19 to open up for more B.C. residents this fall

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B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix says he’s considering making COVID-19 fourth booster shots widely available in the fall — as experts predict a third Omicron wave is on the way.

The minister made the comments at a news conference announcing the government is seeking proposals to build a new hospital and cancer centre in Surrey.

“Everyone should be planning to get another dose in the fall, everybody,” he said. “Because we have to do the maximum we can do to protect the ones we love, and protect ourselves.”

Most active cases of COVID-19 involve newer variants of the virus.

The province is looking at a recommendation by a federal advisory committee, NACI, that booster shots be made available. Dix says everyone should plan on receiving a fourth shot.

“We’re of course planning for what happens in the fall. And of course that includes potentially the development of newer vaccines that provide more protection against newer variants of COVID-19,” he said.

Currently, the only B.C. residents eligible for a fourth shot are aged 70 and older, Indigenous people over 55 and people in long-term care, six months after their last booster.

B.C. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said two weeks ago that those hoping for a fourth dose would still have to wait until they are eligible.

Dix said 1.4-million residents who are eligible for their third dose have not taken it.

And the province is looking to dispose of as many as 200,000 doses of vaccine with slow uptake of third and fourth doses.

There are no details on whether the doses would be targeted toward a newer variant, or how they would be rolled out.

Dix also says there are currently no immediate plans to return to a provincewide mask mandate.

He says it’s unclear what the COVID infection rate will look like this fall, but they’re preparing for a possible spike in respiratory illnesses.

“So, no option is ever excluded. Right now we see overall the level of hospitalizations coming down for COVID-19, but we also see other places in the world with real challenges.”

With files from The Canadian Press

Mary GriffinMary Griffin

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