Will COVID Vaccine Fatigue Lead to Low Influenza Vaccine Uptake? Why Some Experts Are Concerned – National | Globalnews.ca

As flu season approaches in Canada, pharmacists and public health professionals are raising concerns about how vaccine fatigue could result in fewer Canadians getting their flu shot, especially amid predictions that this year’s flu season could be the worst in years.

Only half of Canadians plan to get the flu shot this year, according to a new survey by Abacus Data for the Canadian Pharmacists Association.

That’s a six-point drop from the 56 percent of Canadians surveyed about their flu shot intentions last year.

“We’re actually quite concerned about these results,” said Danielle Paes, chief pharmacist officer at the Canadian Pharmacists Association.

Canada has only recently emerged from an unusual summer wave of illnesses due to COVID-19 that has shown how easily respiratory disease transmission can occur after public health measures like masking and physical distancing were largely scrapped, she said.

That, coupled with concerns about overcrowded hospitals and health care staff shortages across Canada, means many health practitioners are hoping as many people as possible will protect themselves against the flu with a flu shot this year, she added.

“In an already strained healthcare system, anything we can do to alleviate some of that pressure will go a long way.”

Canada’s flu season has been far less severe than usual over the past two years, which health experts attribute to public health measures that were mandatory in most of Canada during the peak of the pandemic.

But this year, that trend is set to reverse.

This year, Australia saw a significant spike in flu cases, peaking earlier than usual after two years with almost no flu cases, says Alyson Kelvin, a virologist with the Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Organization at the University of Saskatchewan.

Australia’s flu season is often used by experts to predict what might happen in Canada as it arrives a few months earlier.

Australia’s flu surge has been exacerbated by a simultaneous wave of new COVID-19 infections in the country.

Given that influenza infections in Canada typically spike in December, which is also the same month that new SARS-CoV-2 variants have emerged for the past two years, there are concerns about a dual outbreak of COVID-19 and influenza this fall and/or winter in Canada, Kelvin said.

This is of particular concern since contracting one of these viruses makes one more susceptible to infection with the other.

“Once you’ve contracted either influenza or SARS-CoV-2, your immune system becomes suppressed, so you have lower immunity,” she said.

“Even if you have these respiratory viruses, it causes damage to your lungs, which can make you more susceptible to another respiratory virus and potentially develop an even more serious illness because your lungs have not fully recovered.”

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Experts warn of a nasty flu season

For those reasons, pharmacists are hoping that as many Canadians as possible will get their flu shot this year and even consider getting it early, Paes said.

Only 42 percent of Canadians received their flu vaccine last year, according to the Abacus Data survey.

Whether a surge in anti-vaccine sentiment among those opposed to COVID-19 vaccination contributed to this lower uptake over the past year, or whether it was simply due to vaccine hesitancy or fatigue is unknown.

But John Papastergiou, a pharmacist and an assistant professor at the University of Toronto School of Pharmacy, says he has answered questions from a number of customers who are wondering whether they need a flu shot when they are already fully vaccinated against COVID. 19

“I think that’s why we’re trying to get the message out early this year so people think about it – I might have been vaccinated against COVID, but that doesn’t protect against the flu,” he said.

“And while the flu hasn’t been a big deal in recent years, we think it potentially could be, so let’s get people vaccinated as early as possible this year.”

A number of Canadians can safely get their flu and COVID-19 boosters at the same time, depending on their age and where they live, says Kelvin, which could make it more convenient for people to protect themselves from both viruses.

But it’s important that Canadians don’t become complacent in the face of the flu’s impact, she said. Because despite killing far fewer people each year than COVID-19 — flu typically kills an estimated 3,000 a year, compared to over 14,000 killed by COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021 — influenza can still cause serious illness and disease cause deaths.

“It’s not mild or even moderate for everyone and you just have to keep that in mind even if we’re in a regular influenza season or this season where both of these respiratory viruses may be circulating,” Kelvin said.