As we head into another fall season of back-to-school and back to our usual activities, it’s important to remember that COVID-19 didn’t go away. Health authorities are expecting an uptick in cases this fall as we all head inside.
The good news is we still have one of the best forms of protection in vaccines. On Tuesday (Sept. 6), the province announced plans for a fall booster program, which will begin soon. Adults will be offered the new bivalent version of the vaccine, which targets omicron variants better than previous vaccines.
Immunity is complex, as made evident by some of the discussions about exactly when different groups of people should get their next shots. The general advice, however, isn’t complex. It’s still an exceedingly smart idea to get a booster shot this fall.
In case there’s anyone who hasn’t been paying attention to the news, our health-care system is still under immense pressure. We can’t fix all of those issues with vaccines, but we can certainly do our best to avoid making things worse.
If not for yourself, consider getting boosted for others you care about who may need to access the health-care system.
If there’s one area of potential concern, it remains the low rate of vaccination among children. The North Shore has done better than many other areas of the province, but it’s still true that vaccination rates among our youngest – who can readily pass the infection on to more vulnerable people – remain too low.
Hoping and encouraging are apparently only going so far in overcoming parental reluctance to sign their children up for vaccines.
We hope that new strategies are in the hopper soon to boost those rates much higher.
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