3rd doses crucial, experts say, as Alberta faces COVID-19 resurgence

Alberta's stalled third-dose uptake could spell trouble as the highly transmissible Omicron subvariant drives another pandemic surge in the province, experts are warning.

With just 36.7 per cent of the total population triple vaccinated against COVID-19, Alberta lags behind all the other provinces.

Of those eligible for a third shot (everyone 12 and up), uptake sits at 43.1 per cent.

"I'm really perceiving that a lot of people don't understand — haven't really been exposed to the notion — that the third dose is crucial right now," said Dr. Lynora Saxinger, an infectious disease physician with the University of Alberta.

"A lot of people seem to settle on the idea that they're fully vaccinated after two doses and haven't gotten around to or haven't seen a strong reason to go get that third dose."

But the third dose is doing a lot of the heavy lifting at this stage of the pandemic, she said.

"It takes you from being maybe 60 per cent protected against hospitalization comparatively to over 90 per cent, which is a lot."

Infection inevitable

At the University of Calgary, infectious disease specialist Dr. Dan Gregson said the virus will be difficult to avoid in the weeks ahead.

"Omicron is coming to a nose near you whether you like it or not," he warned.

Gregson said that with virtually all public health measures eliminated and the BA.2 subvariant driving transmission rates up, third doses — which have been found to be safe — are key, along with masking, to minimizing further pressure on Alberta's already strained and short-staffed hospitals.

"Third doses will reduce the severity of the infection you get and reduce the probability you'll end up in hospital," he said.

"With the new variants, the data suggests you do need to get the extra boost."

Hospitalizations are already rising. The latest data shows there are 990 Albertans in hospital with COVID, including 44 in the ICU.

Positivity rates are also increasing along with new weekly case numbers and wastewater levels of the virus in some communities.

Alberta's lagging third dose uptake is driven, in part, by complacency, according to Shannon MacDonald, an associate professor in the faculty of nursing at the University of Alberta, who researches immunization policy and practice.

The message from government, she said, needs to be clear.

"People are not going to go get a third dose of the vaccine if they think 'the pandemic is over, I've done my part, I'm ready to move on," she said.

"The message has to get out there that we're still in an active stage of this pandemic."

MacDonald said she believes there's a lot of confusion about when to get a third dose, particularly for people who've been recently infected. That's because the guidelines are complicated.

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She'd like to see the province create an online decision-making tool that factors in local guidelines and provides timelines for third shots based on when a person had other doses and when they were infected.

Meanwhile, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, warned on Thursday that given the transmissibility of BA.2— along rising COVID metrics — a further increase in cases is expected in the coming days and weeks.

"Ensure you and your loved ones — particularly those who have any risk factors for severe outcomes — have received every vaccine dose you're eligible for to help boost your protection as transmission and exposure risk rises."

Alberta is expanding eligibility for fourth doses this week. As of April 12, all Albertans 70 and up, all First Nations, Métis and Inuit people 65 and over, as well as all seniors living in congregate care, can get their fourth shots.