Coronavirus Booster Shots Coming Soon
Get ready for shot number three as Nova Scotia prepares for COVID booster vaccine.
The Province accepted all five recommendations of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), including boosters for people with a higher risk of serious COVID-19 illness or other concerns that decrease protection of our earlier vaccination program.
Nova Scotia will begin to administer booster doses by the end of November.
The Chief Medical Officer of Health says, "As we prepare to offer booster doses, our first priority will continue to be encouraging people who have one or no doses of COVID vaccine to get vaccinated.” Dr. Robert Strang says, "Boosters may provide an added level of protection, but the best way to reduce the spread of the virus is to ensure that everyone has at least two doses of vaccine.”
The national agency recommended booster doses be offered at least six months after the primary series is completed. Groups who will be eligible for a booster dose in Nova Scotia include:
- anyone 80 and older, followed by ages 70 to 79
- adult frontline healthcare workers who were double vaccinated with an interval of less than 28 days between their first and second doses
- people who received two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine or one dose of Janssen vaccine
The Province is also engaging with Indigenous and African Nova Scotian communities on the best way to offer booster doses in those communities.
Planning for boosters is underway, and updates to the vaccine booking system are being made.
The NACI also recommended last month that the optimal interval between first and second doses is eight weeks. Nova Scotians can still schedule their second dose as early as 28 days after the first but are encouraged to follow the NACI recommendation and wait eight weeks for their second dose.
Booster doses for people living in long-term care and other settings that provide care for seniors became available October 25.
Third doses for moderately to severely immunocompromised people or people who are taking medications that substantially suppress their immune system became available October 4.
People who are required to travel for work to a country that does not recognize a mixed vaccine series may be eligible for a third dose to meet entry requirements or to avoid isolation.
For those who are still holding out, hold out no more. Billions of people across the globe have been safely vaccinated and like all vaccines, reports of adverse reactions are extremely rare.
Recent reports show the continuing spread of the coronavirus — with its mutations or variants — is largely controlled by the vaccine. Over 80% of deaths, 85% of hospitalizations, and almost 90% of infections have happened among those who have refused the vaccine.
Never mind what you read on Facebook or other dubious social media sources, the numbers prove that vaccines are safe, and more important, are effective.
The photo shows Dr. Robert Strang getting his COVID shot. Does it hurt? Yes — the shirt not the needle.
Add your comments below.