Health Officials Remain Undecided Fourth Vaccine Doses

British Columbia health officials are still undecided on whether fourth vaccine doses will be made available to the general population as immunity to COVID-19 wanes and the possibility of future, more transmissible variants looms.

British Columbia health officials are still undecided on whether fourth vaccine doses will be made available to the general population as immunity to COVID-19 wanes and the possibility of future, more transmissible variants looms.

The BA2 Omicron subvariant has already fuelled a sixth wave amid B.C.’s relaxed public health measures, and limited data reporting and testing has made its progression difficult to track.

The BC Centre for Disease Control now only provides new statistics weekly, and COVID-19 PCR testing is severely limited to those in high-risk settings, with use of at-home rapid tests for the general population encouraged instead.

In the last week, according to the province’s most recent May 12 report on the pandemic, 59 more people have died after testing positive for COVID-19. There are currently 596 people in hospital, including 54 in ICU.

With lower rates of third shot booster uptake already occurring, experts say a robust fourth dose campaign will be key to weathering future variants without B.C. having to reintroduce major protective measures — such as mandatory masking and the vaccine card program — seen during the first waves of the pandemic.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommends fourth shots, or second boosters, for those over age 70, Indigenous people over 55, people living in long-term care and assisted living, and those who are deemed clinically extremely vulnerable. All of these people are currently eligible for a fourth dose of the vaccine in B.C.