Health Chief Medical Officer Dr Janice Fitzgerald said anyone aged five and over who has not had a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in the past 20 weeks should get another dose. (Garrett Barry/CBC)
Newfoundland and Labrador Public Health has extended eligibility for another COVID-19 booster to anyone five years and older who hasn’t had a dose in the past 20 weeks, regardless of how many previous doses they’ve had.
At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, the province’s chief medical officer, Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, said anyone meeting the new criteria should receive a booster.
“Evidence shows that a longer interval of 20 weeks between doses provides longer-lasting protection against severe disease than a shorter interval,” Fitzgerald said.
Cold and flu season is approaching, Fitzgerald noted, and will be the first winter in three years without public health restrictions. She said any booster administered on or after Sept. 21 would be considered a fall or winter COVID-19 vaccine.
She said public health officials are expecting a spike in COVID-19 cases later this fall, but are not yet seeing any signs of increased infections.
Fitzgerald said that for people who have had COVID-19, the booster will help create “hybrid immunity.”
A bivalent vaccine is available for high-risk groups
Fitzgerald said Newfoundland and Labrador this month will receive about 63,000 doses of Moderna’s bivalent vaccine, which specifically protects against the Omicron variant of COVID-19 — the main variant circulating in the province.
Moderna introduced the vaccine for people aged 18 and over, but Health Canada approved the vaccine for “off-label” use in people aged 12 and over. Fitzgerald said the bivalent vaccine uses mRNA technology like previous vaccines and has the same dosage.
“The only difference is the coding of the spike protein that’s in the vaccine,” she said.
Fitzgerald said companies submit products based on their own studies, and Health Canada does its own assessment.
“There are many, many, many things that we use that we call ‘off-label,'” she said.
She said that because of the limited supply, Public Health will initially only offer the vaccine to groups at increased risk of COVID-19.
Even a booster with this generic strain, it still gives you really good protection against severe disease. – Dr. Janice Fitzgerald
“We will expand this eligibility when we have sufficient supply, which we hope to be able to do in the very near future,” she said,
Groups eligible for the bivalent vaccine include adults age 65 and older; residents of long-term care or group housing facilities; people 12 years of age and older with underlying medical conditions; adults in some First Nations, Inuit, Métis communities; and adults in some marginalized or vulnerable communities.
Fitzgerald said Public Health is asking pharmacists and doctors to ensure clinics are fully booked before ordering the bivalent vaccine. She said the bivalent vaccinations will start on September 21.
Fitzgerald said public health is looking to gauge uptake before expanding eligibility for the bivalent vaccine to everyone 18 and older. Meanwhile, Fitzgerald still recommends everyone else get the original Pfizer and Moderna vaccine.
“Even a booster with this ancestral strain, it still gives you really good protection against severe disease,” she said.
She said almost 80 percent of people age 60, 95 percent of people age 70 and 89 percent of people age 80 and older received a third vaccine against COVID-19.
“We’re seeing good uptake of the booster,” she said.
Two more deaths
Meanwhile, two more people have died in the past week due to COVID-19 in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Both were 80 years of age or older and lived in the Eastern Health Region.
The total number of deaths in NL since the pandemic hit in March 2020 is now 236.
Hospitalizations increased slightly from three to four after last week’s update. There is no one in intensive care.
The province also reported 116 more cases of COVID-19 in the past week: 22 on Thursday, 21 on Friday, 14 on Saturday, 13 on Sunday, eight on Monday, 14 on Tuesday and 24 on Wednesday.
However, these numbers do not reflect the true spread of the virus because the province restricts PCR testing and only reports positive cases from tests administered by its health authorities.
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