B.C. residents urged to get vaccinated as flu season approaches

Health officials are urging British Columbians to get their flu and COVID-19 vaccines soon as the fall respiratory illness season approaches. 

The Ministry of Health said in a statement the province's fall immunization campaign will officially launch on Oct. 8, with rollout plans well underway.  

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) has noted a rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations since late August, although current rates remain lower than last year's. 

It comes as Health Canada announced approval in late September for Pfizer's updated vaccine targeting the Omicron subvariant known as KP.2, which continues to dominate COVID-19 cases in Canada.

Updated vaccines for both influenza and COVID-19 are expected to arrive in the province next week. Priority invitations will start going out in early October, targeting those most at risk of severe illness and hospitalization, including individuals over 65, long-term care residents, people with chronic conditions, pregnant individuals, and health-care workers.

Flu vaccine less effective in Southern Hemisphere this year

Health experts are also looking to the Southern Hemisphere for insights into what to expect from the flu season in Canada, which typically runs from November to April.

Stephen Hoption Cann, a clinical professor at the University of British Columbia, said that data from countries in the Southern Hemisphere helps predict flu trends in the Northern Hemisphere. However, while these observations are useful, they are not fully predictive for Canada.  

"What we usually do is look at what happens in the Southern Hemisphere with their season … and that's used to gauge what vaccine we use in the Northern Hemisphere," Hoption Cann told CBC News.  

According to the BCCDC, Australia saw a rise in influenza cases, especially among children, compared to the previous season, largely driven by the H3N2 subtype of the flu virus. 

H3N2, a strain of influenza A, is known to cause more severe illness, particularly in older adults, young children, and those with compromised immune systems.  

The strain also dominated in Chile, with flu cases three times higher than in the last two seasons. 

While South Africa recorded a higher prevalence of the H1N1 — another subtype of influenza that has spread since the swine flu pandemic in 2009 — the World Health Organization says there have been more detections of the H3N2 subtype of flu globally. 

Hoption Cann noted that the flu vaccine this year reduced the risk of hospitalization by 35 per cent in the Southern Hemisphere.

"That's good, but it's not as good as what we've seen in previous years," he said. 

The UBC professor says the flu shot has historically been shown to reduce the risk of going to the doctor by 40 to 60 per cent. 

The drop in effectiveness this year, he says, may be the result of fewer H1N1 cases. 

"So the [H1N1 flu] was in the vaccine, but it looks like we might not see so much of that this year," Hoption Cann added.  "So the strains may change a little bit from what we've seen in previous years, and that may be one of the reasons why the vaccine is not as effective this year."

Vaccine fatigue impacting immunization 

Immunization remains a crucial defence against the flu, but Hoption Cann says flu vaccination rates have declined compared to pre-pandemic levels.

"There were certain people during the pandemic that didn't like mandatory vaccines ... so it has maybe affected people's confidence in the vaccines," he said. 

In Australia, a Canberra-based respiratory physician notes a similar trend, calling it "vaccination fatigue."

"Vaccine fatigue after the pandemic has actually led to decreased numbers of flu vaccinations, particularly in our younger and vulnerable communities," said Dr. Nick Coatsworth, clinical associate professor at the Australian National University College of Health and Medicine. 

As flu season winds down in Oceania, Coatsworth is urging Canadians to get vaccinated ahead of the approaching season.

"Vaccination is always gonna be our best protection for influenza," he told CBC News. "It is an effective means of shortening the duration and severity of disease as a young adult [and] it can be life saving for people at the extremes of age."

B.C.'s health ministry is also reminding residents to book vaccine appointments and get immunized to protect themselves and their communities against respiratory illnesses this fall and winter.

Both flu and COVID-19 vaccines will be free for anyone over six months of age and available at pharmacies and health clinics across the province.