Ontario will expand vaccine booster eligibility to anyone 50 and up. By our standards, this is lightning-fast

Thestar.com
Dec. 2, 2021

More boosters are coming, and not a moment too soon. As the world waits to learn more about the Omicron variant, two sources confirm that Thursday, Ontario will announce an expansion of eligibility on third-shot boosters to anybody 50 and up, with an expected opening date in mid-December.

It may be late; it doesn’t solve every problem, because nothing does. But it’s a welcome move.

By Ontario’s standards, this counts as lightning-fast. Omicron’s detection was announced by the World Health Organization last Friday; for Ontario to announce a significant and helpful policy change within a week, even if the policy itself is overdue, was something like agility.

But even without Omicron, the Delta variant was already ransacking several regions of the province, and Ontario as a whole has been in exponential growth for several weeks; in Europe, soaring COVID-19 case counts were followed by increased hospitalizations, too, and there are approximately 350,000 unvaccinated people over the age of 50 in Ontario. Data from other countries has showed immunity conferred by two doses of a vaccine erodes around the six-month mark, though it can be longer depending on the interval between shots. Ontario data was just starting to show waning in the 50-plus category; the province’s threshold for a third shot is 168 days after the second one, and that will presumably apply here.

One source said Ontario will likely accelerate access to third-shot boosters for the rest of the population, too: at present, that would likely not occur until the new year. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization is expected to announce expanded guidance on boosters Friday.

It won’t be easy, because the province was not planning on this. Two sources said an actual date for 50-plus shots remains fluid -- if daily new vaccinations remain slow it could open more capacity in the immunization system, and a planned date of Dec. 13 could be moved up. There are approximately four million Ontarians between the ages of 50 and 69; it takes about a week after a third dose to boost immunity, but most eligible citizens will not be boosted in time for immunity to rise before, say, Christmas. The virus, again, does not own a calendar.

It may be difficult. The immunization system has already been denuded by doctors going back to their practices, burnout and lack of staff at the public health level, and the closure of several mass vaccination centres. The province has turned to pharmacies to fill the gap -- family doctors don’t seem to be a big part of the plan -- but the province has also opened vaccinations to five-to-11-year-olds, and over 100,000 awesome eligible children have received their first shot. Premier Doug Ford has done very little to push vaccination beyond a mandate for long-term care, and has barely tweeted about vaccination in over a month. But he pushed for vaccination Wednesday, just a little.

“If you haven’t already done so, please get vaccinated today,” said Ford while announcing a previously announced hospital in Mississauga. “If you put off your second dose, please get your second dose. And if you’re eligible for your third dose, book your booster appointment as soon as you’re able to.”

Ontario had already opened up third-shot boosters to those over 70, to health-care workers, to Indigenous, Metis and Inuit and their household members, and to those who got two shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine, or one dose of Johnson & Johnson. Ontario has approximately four million doses in freezers, daily new vaccinations remain limited, and third doses have not moved quickly in the 70-plus population.

There remain concerns that some mutations in the Omicron variant could result in vaccine evasion, though at a briefing Wednesday, WHO chief scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan said that with the proviso that the data is still in its preliminary stages, “We think vaccines will still protect against severe disease, as they have against the other variants.”

We live in hope. At the same briefing, COVID technical lead Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove cautioned that the question of increased transmissibility would be answered in the coming days, and the severity of disease has not been firmly established. But she also said, “Everything we can do for Delta, which is dominant worldwide, needs to be applied and strengthened for Omicron.”

Exactly, and vaccines top the list. Hopefully the news on Omicron will be positive, but this pandemic remains a societal challenge, every day, and a personal one, too. A powerful public information campaign on boosters would be welcome. A more durable infrastructure on vaccine passports, mandates and delivery may be a must. We can do better to protect people.

But the boosters are coming, and if you are eligible, it is worth finding yourself an appointment and protecting yourself.