Sask. will expand booster shot eligibility soon: CMHO
Saskatchewan could soon be expanding booster shot eligibility – as more people reach the six-month mark after their second dose.
The province’s chief medical health officer said eligibility could open up for more people in the coming days and weeks.
“Uptake for boosters has been fair but I would strongly encourage people as they become eligible to step forward and get their booster shot so that keeps it smooth for further age groups as they become eligible,” Dr. Saqib Shahab said.
Currently – health care workers – those who are immunocompromised – and people aged 65 and older can get their booster shot.
People 50 and older in the Far North and living on First Nations are also eligible.
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommends booster shots for everyone aged 70 and older.
However, both Pfizer and Moderna booster shots have been approved for people ages 18 and older.
“We were basing our booster recommendations on both NACI recommendations but even before that we were basing it on our own epidemiology,” Shahab said, adding that booster dose eligibility will likely expand similar to when vaccines were first rolled out.
Laveena Tratch, the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s vaccine lead for the Regina area, says evidence shows immunity starts to wane six months after receiving the dose of COVID-19 vaccine, which means a little less protection from the virus and its variants.
Tratch says booster shots are one of the best lines of defense against COVID-19.
“The importance of getting that booster dose is to really boost your immune system so it has that really high level of protection against those variants,” she said.
As of Tuesday, 93,243 “extra doses” have been administered across the province. That number is a combination of booster shots as well as third and fourth doses.
Tratch says vaccine fatigue is a risk as more people become eligible for additional doses. However, she says she has yet to see signs of it.
“This will become something within our community that people will start to accept as part of our need to stay healthy,” Tratch said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.