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The new vaccines are more than just another booster, said Dr. Lynora Saxinger, saying they’re ‘a real upgrade from what we had previously’
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Bookings for Alberta’s COVID-19 and influenza immunization programs are now open, and local pharmacies are seeing increased demand for the shots.
The province’s booking system opened Tuesday morning, available via an online portal or by calling 811. The webpage says Albertans can book for either a COVID vaccine or a flu shot but can choose to get both in one appointment if preferred.
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At Chapparal Pharmacy, pharmacy manager Sara Badawi says her team has been fielding questions about the new Moderna and Pfizer XBB 1.5 COVID-19 vaccines since before Health Canada approved the new iterations in September, noting an increased demand over last year for both COVID and flu immunization.
“Booking-wise, it is higher than last year,” said Badawi, noting the morning’s bookings came as a surprise after lower demand last year. “In the last few months, we started to hear lots of phone calls, lots of people that are interested in taking the new COVID vaccine … I believe it is in high demand.”
New shots ‘a real upgrade’
The new vaccines are more than just another booster, said Dr. Lynora Saxinger, saying they’re “a real upgrade from what we had previously,” something she hopes will prompt more people to get the jab this year. She said the relevance of the previous booster shots “kind of drifted,” and the benefits in preventing infection weren’t as noticeable.
“A lot of people would have gotten their bivalent boosters and might have had kind of an annoying COVID infection anyway, although the risk of serious infection was much, much less,” said Saxinger, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of Alberta.
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The new vaccines target the XBB 1.5 COVID-19 strain, a descendent of Omicron that emerged this year. While last fall’s shots were bivalent — targeting multiple strains — this year’s is monovalent, aimed solely at the XBB 1.5 variant.
While XBB 1.5 is no longer the dominant strain of COVID-19, doctors have said the new doses should offer protection against the EG.5 variant that’s taken its place.
“The new XBB vaccine is exactly the same package with a very minor tweak to the formula that makes it more intuitive to current circulating strains, including all of the more recently talked about variants,” Saxinger said. “It’s very relevant right now, and it would be expected to reduce your risk of any infection for the months where we’re at the highest risk period coming up.
“Reducing your risk doesn’t make you bulletproof, but reducing your risk is still good. No one wants to get sick.”
Vaccine appointments are scheduled to begin Oct. 16. Albertans living in congregate care were able to access vaccines through their facilities as early as Oct. 2.
Alberta Health did not have any available data on the number of vaccine bookings as of Tuesday afternoon.
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RSV vaccine available, but at a cost
There’s an available respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, approved by Health Canada earlier this year for those aged 60 and older, but it’s currently not covered by Alberta Health. RSV is part of the trio of respiratory viruses that caused what some doctors have called a “triple-demic” — alongside COVID and the flu — that weighed on Alberta hospitals last winter.
The Arexvy RSV vaccine is available at some pharmacies, though it can cost up to $300 depending on the pharmacy, and it’s not always covered by insurance. Badawi said the price is prohibitive for some patients who would otherwise be ideal candidates for the vaccine.
“I just saw a patient in the morning. According to her age and her underlying conditions, she’s eligible, and it’s highly recommended for her. But because this patient cannot afford it … she had to skip it,” said Badawi.
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Currently, the only province that has covered Arexvy is Ontario, but only for eligible residents of long-term care and some retirement homes.
Saxinger said an RSV vaccine would be less broadly applicable to the public, with severe cases largely coming in elderly people and those with chronic lung conditions. She said public health officials have to weigh the “bang for the buck” in deciding whether to cover the vaccine and it should be covered for.
“They’re trying to figure out, is this something that is worth it to the system to make it broadly available to everyone, to a certain group, to a very, very small group?” she said. “That’s kind of what’s going on right now. I don’t think there’s any doubt that it’s a good vaccine, it’s just where’s the best place to use it? And how strong a recommendation is it that people get it?”
Health Minster Adriana LaGrange’s office told Postmedia Alberta Health is awaiting recommendations on the RSV vaccine from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization. Alberta health officials will review NACI’s findings before it makes a determination on whether the shot will be covered.
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“If the analysis determines there is a significant need to provide the vaccine through the Alberta Health care insurance plan, then it will be added to Alberta’s provincially funded immunization program”
Less than half of Canadians plan to get updated COVID shot
An August poll conducted by Abacus Data for the Canadian Pharmacists Association suggested that just less than half — 47 per cent — of Canadians intend to get a COVID shot this fall. Saxinger said that number might go up as people learn the benefits of the new doses.
“Even 50 per cent would be useful (to reduce the burden on the health-care system), particularly if it’s the right 50 per cent,” she said.
“Anyone that you know who takes a double handful of medications probably would be in a risk group that you should be paying attention to. Even if you yourself aren’t planning to … think about the people who you’d feel bad if you gave them COVID and make sure that they do it.”
Alberta’s new respiratory virus dashboard — launched last week after months of limited provincial data — shows health officials identified 730 new cases of COVID in the last week of September, and eight people died. A total of 145 were hospitalized, and seven were in intensive care as of Sept. 30.
Between the end of August and the end of September, there have been 2,501 cases of COVID-19 in Alberta, resulting in 40 deaths.
Additionally, the dashboard shows there have been 90 cases of influenza — including one death — and 38 cases of RSV. Three people were hospitalized with the flu at the end of September; hospital and death data is unavailable for RSV.
mrodriguez@postmedia.com
X: @MichaelRdrguez
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