Annual COVID-19 boosters could become a reality: MLHU

To continue providing immunity to COVID-19 and new possible variants, Dr. Alex Summers said booster shots will likely be offered to the public annually in the fall, similar to the flu shot.

On Thursday evening, the medical officer of health for the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) said, “I anticipate we will see annual fall cover vaccines going hand in hand with annual influenza vaccines to protect the general population and sustain health care system capacity which will likely be a respiratory system that falls over the fall and winter months,” he said during the board of health meeting.

Boosters will also be offered to high-risk individuals in the spring, as long as it's been six months since they’ve received their last booster, according to Summers.

“The interval remains influx depending on the waning of immunity from these vaccines, the emergence of new viruses in the community, and the emergence of any new vaccine,” he said.

Those considered high risk would include adults over the age of 65, and adults 18 to 64 with moderate or severe immunocompromising conditions. Other eligible individuals would be adults living in long-term care homes or those with complex care needs.

“If it’s been six months since you've received a booster you'll be eligible for an additional booster this spring,” Summers explained. “That’s about protecting the most vulnerable from the most severe outcomes.”