High-risk groups can get updated COVID, flu shots; everyone else Oct. 30

While Quebec residents can now getupdated COVID-19 and flu vaccines, the general public in Ottawa will have to wait a few more weeks.

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) said in astatementit is waiting for an additional shipment of vaccines in order to make them more widely available.

As of Wednesday, several higher risk groups are eligible for the vaccines. The rest of the city will become eligible on Oct. 30.

"We want to protect people most at risk for the complications of COVID and influenza. We're rolling both these vaccines out at the same time to those groups that are at higher risk," said Dr. Vera Etches, OPH's medical officer of health.

• High respiratory risk in some places, rising COVID hospitalizations elsewhere

OPH received itsfirst shipment of the updatedvaccines the final week of Septemberand began distributing them to hospitals and long-term care homes.

Health-care workers and first responders are noweligible for the vaccines, according to the OPH website, asaregroups athigher risk of complications due to flu or COVID-19.

Those groupsinclude residents and staff incongregate care settings, people age65or older or agesix months to five years old, people who are pregnant or are members of racialized communities.

In Quebec, people in long-term care homes and private seniors' residences have been able to get the latest COVIDvaccine since Oct. 2. Everyone else in that province became eligible for the shots Tuesday.

• Quebecers can now get a new COVID-19 shot

In a statement, the OntarioMinistry of Health saidthe province received its first shipment of the Moderna XBB.1.5 vaccine on Sept.22, and is awaiting shipments of the Pfizer XBB.1.5 vaccine recently approved by Health Canada.

'We're knee deep in COVID'

Raywat Deonandan, epidemiologist and professor ofhealth sciences at the University of Ottawa, said the delay in Ontariodoesn'tnecessarily mean Quebec's infection rate will be lower.

"I don't know what the desire for this vaccination is with the general population," Deonandan said."If you make it widely available and nobody wants it, does that really matter?"

It also comes down tosupply, hesaid: the shots should be made widely available but if there isn't enough to dole out, those who are more likely to suffer from infection should be prioritized.

OPH saidit's a high-risk time for respiratory illness in the city and it'sexpecting thisrespiratory virus season to be similar to its last, when COVID-19, flu and RSVsurged at the same timetopress health-care staff and thehealth systemto the pointthe Red Cross had tohelp.

It isn't seeing a rise in influenza right now, but expects the fluto circulate more widely in the coming weeks. The health unit isencouraging people to get the flu shot which Etches said can be safely done at the same time as the new COVIDshot.

While that would mean two different needles in the arm, Deonandan said anyshort-term discomfort is worth it for long-termprotection during the respiratory season.

"There's a lot of respiratory virus activity going out there. It's really early in the RSV season. It's early in the flu season, but there are certainly flu cases," Deonandan said. "We're probably knee deep in COVID."

What's different with this COVID-19 shot?

Deonandan said the currentCOVID vaccine is different from the previous version and isexpected to produce a stronger immune response against the variants currently circulating.

"The previous version was the bivalent, which included a strain of Omicron and the original Wuhan strain. This is a monovalent that targets a descendant of Omicron," Deonandan said.

In line with the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), OPH is echoing the OntarioMinistry of Healthrecommendationthat individuals should receive a dose of the updated COVID-19 vaccine if it has been sixmonths since their last COVIDvaccine or known COVIDinfection.

Both the flu shot and updated COVID-19 vaccine are available at OPH community clinics, pharmacies, OPH Neighbourhood Health and Wellness Hubsandsome health care providers.

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