Manitoba’s chief public health officer says the province has no immediate plans to expand fourth COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to include all adults.
That’s despite recent moves by other provinces to make the booster accessible to everyone over the age of 18.
Dr. Brent Roussin said Wednesday Manitoba will instead likely wait for the fall, when he says a new bivalent vaccine may be available.
“In early fall, there’s a real chance of a bivalent vaccine. That we begin our fall campaign with that is going to be, very likely, more effective against the newer variants that we’re dealing with,” Roussin said.
“Because there’s going to be a three to six month interval between doses, a large fourth dose campaign right now could potentially delay the receipt of a much, possibly, better vaccine.”
Currently available COVID-19 vaccines are monovalent — tailored solely to the original novel coronavirus.
The proposed bivalent vaccines target specific mutations in the spike protein seen in both the old strain and newer Omicron strain, which itself has spawned several more infectious subvariants dominating infections today.
Ontario and Alberta, though, have both opened up second boosters to all adults.
In Manitoba, access to fourth shots is limited to people aged 50-plus, Indigenous people aged 30 or older, people in personal care and assisted living homes and some immunocompromised people.
Roussin said Wednesday one booster already provides good protection against severe outcomes for those over 18 who aren’t eligible for a second.
He added only roughly 55 per cent of eligible Manitobans are vaccinated with a third dose as it is.
“The real issue is is getting people that first booster and those that are high risk then, certainly the fourth dose,” Roussin said.
Meanwhile, the province announced Wednesday it is expanding COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to younger children.
Roussin says kids aged six months to four years will now be able to get a shot of the Moderna vaccine recently approved for use in children.
Because of limited availability, the vaccines will at first be offered to priority groups such as Indigenous children and kids with chronic lung disease. Parents of eligible children can begin booking appointments online or by phone as of Monday.
Roussin says all children six months and older will be eligible in the near future, once more shipments of vaccine arrive.
— with files from Global News’ Sam Thompson and The Canadian Press