Ontario is opening up the option of a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to all adults 18 and older this week, but the province’s chief health officer says healthy adults may want to wait until the fall.
Dr. Kieran Moore made the announcement late Wednesday morning, saying people in that age group can make an appointment using the province’s system starting at 8 a.m. on July 14.
Although appointments for fourth doses will be available to all adults five months after their third vaccine or three months after a COVID-19 infection, Moore said it is “not absolutely necessary” for individuals who do not have underlying health problems.
Healthy adults may want to wait until the fall, when a “bivalent vaccine against COVID-19” may be available, Moore said.
“While we provide this option, it is important to note that healthy, currently vaccinated individuals continue to have significant, persistent protection against severe disease even six months after the last dose,” he said.
“However, there may be individuals with personal or medical circumstances in these age groups who may benefit from the additional protection of a second booster.”
Anyone with questions about whether or not they should receive a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is urged to contact their healthcare provider.
Prior to this announcement, fourth doses were only available to people aged 60 and over, as well as immunocompromised and Indigenous adults.
The news comes as Ontario enters a seventh wave of the pandemic, with the peak expected in the next few weeks, according to Moore.
In recent weeks, Ontario has seen a sharp increase in sewage-borne COVID-19, as well as increases in positivity rates, hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions. Moore told reporters that the new wave is on a “slower trajectory” than previous waves because of vaccination rates and the availability of new treatments.
Officials also said they will continue to provide free rapid antigen tests to the general public at grocery stores and pharmacies until Dec. 31.
This is developing news. There is more.
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