By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
On the COVID-19 vaccination front – Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Natalie Bocking told the board of health at their January meeting – the big focus has been on booster doses.
There is 76% coverage among those aged 70 and over – but about half among the population aged 18 and up that are eligible for boosters.
“There is still some room to improve,” she said.
“We have been concerned that uptake of vaccine has slowed significantly. We have a number of empty appointments at our clinics, and our primary-care partners have noticed the same thing.”
Dr. Bocking spoke of a shift in how people think of vaccinations.
Some see how pervasive the Omicron variant is and figure, vaccination or not, they will inevitably contract it.
Some see people falling ill in spite of having two vaccinations and say, “why bother.”
But Dr. Bocking said there are very good data demonstrating how a booster on top of two shots prevents severe illness.
“Elective surgeries and procedure are still on hold because of COVID-19,” she pointed out.
“We need our health-care system to be running at full steam in our area and, to do that, we need to prevent as many severe illnesses of COVID-19 as we possibly can. And vaccination is one of the key tools to do that.”
To encourage the boosters, they have instituted a walk-in policy for those aged 50 and over – the age group at higher risk. They may expand the eligible age group for walk-ins in due course.
Trent Hills Mayor Bob Crate asked if fourth doses might become necessary for certain vulnerable HKPR demographics. Dr. Bocking said they are already being offered in long-term-care and retirement homes, as well as those with compromised immune systems.
“Other jurisdictions globally have moved to a fourth dose,” she added.
“The National Advisory Committee on Immunization is following the data, and I think it’s too soon to know for sure. Part of this will depend on what happens when the Omicron variant comes down. We haven’t seen a new variant emerge to take over.
“Will this become an annual-immunization thing similar to flu? I think that’s the hope, that you reach the level of immunity that you might just need an annual dose.”
Her own thought is that Omicron will continue to “trickle on. But there may be enough immunity overall that there’s not enough places to spread to cause enough cases to overwhelm the health-care system in the same way, with tens of thousands of people getting infected at the same time.”
Other respiratory virus, like influenza, continue year to year without causing havoc to the health-care infrastructure or personal lives. In a best-case scenario, COVID could become just one more.
“And, of course, all that changes if there is a new variant,” Dr. Bocking warned.
Speaking of flu, the everyday COVID-containment measures of hand hygiene, mask wearing and capacity limits has – like last year – made the incidence of flu negligible. Dr. Bocking said there are no confirmed cases in the HKPR jurisdiction. The Peterborough Health Unit has a couple, and the Hastings-Prince Edward Health Unit has just announced its first.
