Anyone eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine can now walk in as booster uptake slows

Ottawa Public Health now says anyone eligible for a first, second or third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine can just drop in as the city tries to increase vaccine uptake during this Omicron-fueled wave.

In the first few days of Ontario opening up third-dose eligibility, public health officials had some growing pains as it rapidly expanded capacity for tens of thousands of new appointments. 

Last week, Ottawa administered an average of 12,100 boosters per day and that dipped to an just above 9,000 for the first two days of this week.

Wednesday was the first day of walk-in appointments in Ottawa and public health reports it administered 943 doses to those who didn't have an appointment.

Dr. Kumanan Wilson, an internal medicine specialist at The Ottawa Hospital and CEO of vaccine-tracking company CANImmunize, says it's not unusual for adult vaccination campaigns to falter toward the end of the full schedule of completion.

"There is a little bit of fatigue emerging in the population," Wilson said, adding officials don't yet know whether this is due to challenges with access or potential hesitation about getting a third dose.

Some people might also be discouraged by a changing message around the vaccine's effectiveness at protecting people from contracting COVID, Wilson said, while it is proven to prevent severe illness.

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Dr. Kumanan Wilson, a researcher at The Ottawa Hospital, says fatigue might be leading to a slowdown in vaccine uptake among the general population as the pandemic enters its third year.

Vaccine meant to prevent severe illness

To some extent, he adds the vaccines have been a victim of their own success — since they were surprisingly effective at preventing infection against earlier variants and gave some hope the virus could be quashed through sufficiently broad vaccination.

"That's really not the goal now of these vaccines. It will provide you with some protection against infection, it will reduce your viral load, which is all good. But the real goal is to protect you from serious illness," Wilson said.

Wilson said subsequent doses are still important to protect the health-care system, reduce the need for lockdown-like measures, and eventually help society return to normal.

"We want to be vaccinated, then you can get exposed, have minimal symptoms or be asymptomatic, learn about the virus, probably be in better shape when the next variant comes along," he said.

"Hopefully, our collective immune systems will start to know what this virus is and we'll be able to live with it."

Wilson said the province might need to change the definition of fully vaccinated to include the third dose, but first public health campaigns need to make it as easy as possible to be immunized.  

So far, 52 per cent of Ottawa residents 18 and older have received three doses of a vaccine.

Getting more young children a 1st dose

Vera Etches, Ottawa's medical officer of health, addressed some of the concerns people have had about third doses when announcing the expansion of walk-in availability Wednesday.

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Dr. Vera Etches, Ottawa’s medical officer of health, says all eligible residents should get a third dose of the vaccine — even if they’ve just recovered from a COVID-19 infection — because of the increased protection it provides from serious illness.

"Both Pfizer and Moderna are mRNA vaccines that work the same way and it is safe and effective to use a different brand for your booster," Etches said.

She also said people who've previously tested positive or suspect they've had COVID-19 recently should still get a third dose after they've recovered and completed their isolation period.

"There is no current evidence that suggests COVID-19 provides as much or better protection than a vaccine."

Etches said the drop-in appointment option is also meant to help vaccinate more children between the ages of five and 11 ahead of the return to class on Monday.

Vaccine uptake among those children has slowed in 2022. Since Jan. 2, the percentage of this cohort with their first dose has only increased from 61 to 64 per cent.

"I would like to see that get over 70 per cent and higher," Etches said.

She said she would support the COVID-19 vaccine eventually being included as a mandatory immunization in Ontario's Immunization of School Pupils Act, which helps public health officials track the immunization of students.