An estimated 1.3 million people in British Columbia have been invited to receive a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine but have yet to do so.
As the province plans to roll out “fall boosters” to everyone aged 12 and over starting in September, Health Minister Adrian Dix was asked Friday to respond to criticism that the province’s messaging about the need for booster doses has not been “strong.” “enough.
Deeks answered calmly but expressed irritation.
“How can I be any clearer than I have been – I would say, and I have to say it delicately – the last 150 times I’ve said this?” asked the health minister, before making his case again to the 1.3 million people who have not reserved an appointment for revaccination.
“If you’re invited for your first booster, get your first booster today,” Dix said. “Make an appointment today. This will make you safer. It will make your family safer. It will make your community safer. Do it today.”
Likewise, to the roughly 200,000 people age 70 and older or in other categories who were offered second boosters, he offered a similar message:
“If you are invited for a second booster and you are in these categories, do it today. Book the appointment today.”
Dix also pointed out that British Columbia is not the only jurisdiction in Canada where uptake of booster doses lags well behind the primary course of vaccines.
Among adults aged 18 and older in British Columbia, 94 percent received at least the first dose of an approved COVID-19 vaccine, and 92 percent received at least two doses.
For boosters, the total amounts to about 62 percent.
It is not clear why so many British Columbians chose not to get third shots. In May, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry warned that natural immunity from the first wave of Omicron in December and January — which infected roughly 50 percent of the province — was waning. At the time, she encouraged those who had not booked a booster appointment due to a recent infection to do so.
Another possible explanation for the lower uptake of third vaccines is that the province has never made them mandatory under any circumstances, unlike the primary course of vaccines.
The British Columbia government requires most health care workers and long-term care home visitors to have two doses of the vaccine, and some private companies have made the same requirement for their workforce. Boosters are not added to province requirements.
Similarly, BC’s vaccine program, which made proof of two vaccine doses mandatory for eating at restaurants and attending events, was never expanded to require three doses.
That program ended in April, with Henry saying it had been “very effective in supporting people to get vaccinated.”
Dix argued Friday that the province’s approach to promoting boosters has been effective.
“People are responding to it,” he said. “We were doing about 50,000 pictures a week.”
“There was a lot of urgency, you’ll remember, in December and January and February and March,” he added. “We certainly made the case and there was an urgency and people went and got their third (dose of) boosters, 2.8 million of them.”
The latest data from the BC Center for Disease Control’s COVID-19 dashboard shows the province administered just 31,261 doses of the vaccine in the week ending July 2. That’s a significant decrease from the recent average, in which the province administered more than 50,000 doses for five consecutive weeks in May and June.
Of the 31,261 doses administered last week, 26,317 of them – or about 84 percent – were second boosters. Another 3,863 were first boosters, 718 were second doses of a primary vaccination course and 359 were first doses.
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