Windsor Regional Hospital's Chief of Staff is encouraging residents who are now eligible to receive their second booster against COVID-19.
With provincial health officials saying Ontario is currently in the seventh wave of the pandemic, being driven by the more infectious BA.5 subvariant, Dr. Wassim Saad says it's the best way to keep yourself protected from severe illness or hospitalization.
"We know that with a lot of infectious diseases, and again this doesn't just apply to COVID-19, you need multiple series to build up your immune system," he continued. "Having a booster now will protect you against this wave and the likely subsequent wave in the early fall."
Dr. Saad says anyone waiting for a variant specific booster before updating their dose will be waiting a while, likely three months or longer.
He adds that even when it does get rolled out, it likely won't be rolled out to the entire population at the same time.
"It's going to start with the elderly population and then the high risk population. And by the time it gets around to everyone under the age of 60 without comorbidities, it could be five, six or seven months from now. So I certainly would not recommend waiting until that happens."
Dr. Saad says if you want to protect yourself against a potential fall surge, it's important to get the second booster sooner rather than later.
He says a person's immunity will start to increase within seven to 14 days following the shot, and provide increased protection for three to six months.
"And that's why we're recommending a booster now for anyone who had their last dose six months ago. So getting it now will protect you right up until December/January, which by then if we do have a variant specific vaccine, then they could get it at that point depending on what happens with the pandemic and subsequent waves," he said.
Dr. Saad expects that a yearly COVID-19 booster will become recommended, similar to a flu shot, based on what most of the experts are predicting.
- with files from AM800's The Dan MacDonald Show