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Alberta is ready to roll out its fall immunizations for airborne viruses like influenza and COVID-19.
“Being immunized for influenza and COVID-19 can help protect you and your loved ones, particularly those most at risk for severe disease. Taking steps to prevent viral infections will also improve an individual’s overall health,” chief medical officer of health Dr. Mark Joffe said in a statement.
On Thursday, the province announced doses can start going into arms on Oct. 16 and it will open fall appointments in the online booking portal for AHS clinics or pharmacies on Oct. 10. Appointments can also be made directly at community health clinics or by calling 811.
Albertans living in congregate care will have access to the shots on Oct. 2.
“Keeping up to date on your immunizations is an excellent way to protect yourself against the coming respiratory illness season. Doing what you can to prevent severe illness will also help secure our health care system for those who need it most,” Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said in a statement on Thursday.
Flu, COVID vaccines safe to take together
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) said anyone above six months of age can get an influenza vaccine and a COVID-19 shot at the same appointments.
And an infectious disease physician Global News spoke to said “absolutely, you can get them together.”
“We have data about co-administration of flu and COVID vaccine suggesting there’s fairly significant safety and there’s no compromise in the efficacy of the vaccines,” Dr. Zain Chagla of McMaster University said.
The Alberta announcement comes on the same day Health Canada approved Pfizer’s updated COVID vaccine.
Both that vaccine and the updated Moderna vaccine – approved by Health Canada earlier this month – are formulated to target the XBB.1.5 subvariant.
A University of Saskatchewan virologist said even if a person has received the bivalent booster, it’s still worth getting the updated shots.
“That’s going to provide people with two things. It’s going to provide them with a temporary boost in protection against infection,” Rasmussen said. “That’s going to be antibodies that booster elicits that are going to be more specific than the ones they already have from the vaccines they’ve had so far.”
More importantly, the vaccine will provide longer-lasting “additional protection against developing severe disease,” she said.
But immunity wanes over time – so if it’s been six months or longer since you were last infected or boosted, then getting the updated vaccine is a good move to bring your protection back up this fall and winter, said Dr. Theresa Tam, chief public health officer of Canada, in a Sept. 12 news conference.
In addition, the immunity-boosting effect of infection varies from person to person, said Rasmussen.
“If you got infected in the last year, you probably did get infected with one of the XBB subvariants. But for some people that will act like a booster (shot), but for other people it might not. And you don’t know which one you’re going to be,” she said.
“Getting that booster guarantees that you are going to have that extra protection.”
–with files from Katie Dangerfield, Global News, and The Canadian Press
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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