'TWO DOSES ARE NO LONGER ENOUGH': Canadians required to get COVID shot every nine months

Author of the article:Denette Wilford
Publishing date:Jul 04, 2022 

 Talath Shams receives her COVID-19 vaccine inside the International Conference Centre during Peel Region's "Doses After Dark" overnight vaccination clinic in Mississauga on May 15, 2021. PHOTO BY COLE BURSTON /AFP/Getty Images
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As we continue to live with COVID-19, turns out we will also have to get used to living with COVID-19 vaccinations.

Canadians will be required to get a booster shot every nine months for the foreseeable future, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told reporters.

So if you thought you were fully vaccinated, think again.

Duclos said that the previous definitions of “fully vaccinated” makes no sense, explaining that it’s more important that shots are “up to date” and whether or not a person has “received a vaccination in the last nine months.”

He added, “We will never be fully vaccinated against COVID-19,” according to Blacklock’s Reporter.

Duclos was asked if he was preparing Canadians for the return of vaccine mandates in the fall, he reportedly replied, “We must continue to fight against COVID.”

In other words, mandates won’t be ruled out just yet.

“We want to be prepared for next fall and that requires an up-to-date vaccination which is based on the nine months.”

He clarified, “Like the virus, our immunity also evolves. Two doses are no longer enough.”

Duclos explained that “‘up to date’ means you have received your last dose in the past nine months.”

He said, “If you’ve already received a first booster, that’s great,” but suggests that Canadians check if they are eligible for a “second or third booster” to remain on top of vaccinations.

Currently, in Ontario, only those who are 60 and over, residents of First Nation, Inuit and Métis communities aged 18 and over, those who live in long-term care homes, retirement homes and congregate settings, and some immunocompromised are eligible for the next round of boosters.

Eighty-six per cent of Canadians over five years of age are fully vaccinated with two COVID-19 shots, according to NACI.

In a June 29 report, the committee recommended that boosters be offered to all other individuals from 12 to 64 years of age, regardless of the number of booster doses they have previously received.

“Cases of COVID-19, including associated hospitalizations and deaths, are currently declining in Canada,” NACI said in a release. “However, the likelihood, timing, and severity of a future wave of COVID-19 is uncertain.”