After several years of public health messaging calling on people to get multiple rounds of COVID-19 vaccines, you’d be forgiven for doing a double-take on some of the latest Canadian and international guidance around booster shots. In short, it’s that while vulnerable adults should get an additional dose this spring, the general population doesn’t need to rush out for another round — and might not have to for a while. The full picture, of course, is a bit more complicated. Someone’s individual risk can shift quickly, such as becoming pregnant or acquiring an immunodeficiency, and even being low-risk for serious health issues from a SARS-CoV-2 infection doesn’t mean no risk. This virus also remains somewhat unpredictable, and there’s a chance it could still evolve in unexpected ways. But, for now, this year’s guidance marks a major shift in the global vaccination approach, at a time when a majority of the population has either been vaccinated, infected, or both.”Right now we’re at a very different place than we were, say, a year ago, or two years ago, or three years ago … our community immunity is very different,” said Alyson Kelvin, a virologist and vaccine researcher with the University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization.The latest recommendations in Canada, out in early March from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), call for another round of booster shots starting this spring for vulnerable adults, rather than the broader population. The Canadians who should get another bivalent mRNA vaccine dose includes seniors 65 and older, those living in congregate settings such as long-term care, and any adults with moderately or severely compromised immune systems — at an interval of six months or so after someone’s last infection or vaccination.
