Since late 2021, covid-19 booster shots have already been rolled out throughout Nova Scotia. As long as an individual is eligible, they can receive their booster shot based on the number of days from their second dose.
Dr. Joanne Langley explained why these booster shots are still needed despite being fully vaccinated. She is the co-chair of the Canadian COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force and head of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the IWK Health Centre.
Dr. Langley emphasized that there are some vaccines that we take, we get one or two doses, and the protection lasts our whole life thus, booster shots are no longer required. But there are vaccines that requires boosters as a normal part of ongoing protection. One of these vaccines is the tetanus and diphtheria vaccine which requires a booster every 10 years.
Although the first doses of covid-19 vaccine we got were very good at stimulating our immune system to develop a response, our immune system needs to be reminded. That is where the booster comes in. Being boosted continues the protection initiated by the first doses we received.
Dr. Langley also explained that basing on the pandemic status we have today, we need regular boosters. “From a population immunity point of view, it might be like influenza where you need a different reminder each year,” she said.
As of Sept. 2, 2022, the CDC recommends a bivalent (containing components of both the original strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the omicron variant of the virus) COVID-19 booster for people aged 12 years and older (Pfizer) or 18 years and older (Moderna). The bivalent vaccines, which offer better protection against COVID-19 caused by the omicron variant than the earlier, monovalent vaccines, have been authorized for use as a single booster dose administered at least two months after primary or booster vaccination. The monovalent COVID-19 vaccines will no longer be available for booster doses in patients over the age of 12. However, the monovalent vaccines will remain available for the primary vaccine series in all patients and for booster doses in patients younger than 12 years old. ( https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/)
These Covid-19 booster shots function by assisting in the increase of antibody levels in your blood. Your level of defense against serious consequences if you contract the virus is directly correlated with these antibody levels.
Let us work together to help reduce the dangerous risks of covid-19 and be boosted!
More to this story at https://www.yourdoctors.ca/blog/health-care/booster
References:
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/
https://www.yourdoctors.ca
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