Alberta teens eligible for bivalent boosters starting Monday, experts want parents to know | CBC News

Some experts worry parents in Alberta won’t get word that teens will be eligible for bivalent COVID-19 boosters for the first time next week.

Last week, the provincial government announced that Pfizer’s bivalent syringe will be available to everyone aged 12 and over starting Monday.

Health Canada approved this vaccine earlier this month, targeting subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.

Moderna’s bivalent booster, targeting the Original and Omicron BA.1 variants, was already available to Albertans aged 18 and over, giving 12-17 year olds access to a vaccine designed to combat the prevailing ones for the first time tribes was formulated.

The press release late Wednesday came without much fanfare.

Similar to the announcement of Moderna’s bivalent vaccine in September, no press conference was held and there was no mention in major government Twitter feeds, including those of Health Secretary Jason Copping, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw and Alberta Health.

“I wasn’t aware of that [this]. And I’m … a parent of a child in this age group … and a researcher in this field,” said Shannon MacDonald, associate professor at the University of Alberta.

She leads a team investigating immunization policy and practice at the School of Nursing and the School of Public Health.

“Part of me is embarrassed that I didn’t know about this, and part of me is like, ‘Okay, if someone like me who’s really attuned to this topic missed this, I’m wondering … does the average parent have one Any idea it’s progressing?'”

MacDonald was relieved to find out the bivalent device is due to launch on Monday.

“The fact is that the pandemic is not over yet. And we’re heading into the fall, which we know from previous years is a time when cases increased and hospitalizations increased,” she said.

“I think it’s really important that we stay in the loop to empower our kids and ourselves for COVID.”

transmission grows

The number of Albertans hospitalized with the virus has been rising for weeks. The latest provincial data shows 1,017 are in hospital, including 33 in intensive care.

“We know COVID is still in the community. His numbers are increasing. It’s still circulating,” said Craig Jenne, associate professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the University of Calgary.

“We are now in the area where these [teens] a refresher is due, and having access to a refresher that is now more finely tuned to the viral variants in the community is an important tool in protecting these younger Albertans.”

Jenne wants parents to know that Pfizer’s bivalent booster will be available to teenagers on October 24th.

“I’m not sure people know that’s out there. We haven’t seen any podium-based announcements about it [is starting]. But that was very similar for most vaccines for children or children here in Alberta,” Jenne said.

“Although these individuals are at lower risk, they are not at zero risk and we need to keep that in mind. We are now beginning to understand the impact of a long COVID and other conditions that may arise after COVID is cleared.”

“Pro-vaccine” message missing

This is the latest example of a major shift away from the provincial government’s COVID-19 news, according to Lorian Hardcastle, an associate professor in the law and medical schools at the University of Calgary.

She believes the province is much less effective in informing Albertans of vaccine availability than it was when the pandemic began.

“They are no longer actively encouraging people to get vaccinated. Certainly the Prime Minister is doing the opposite. The Prime Minister spends her time talking about the freedom not to be vaccinated,” she said.

That could exacerbate problems ahead of another predicted COVID surge as the weather turns colder and people move indoors, this time without public health measures, she warned.

“I think they’ve really stepped back on the vaccine issue and it’s really problematic,” Hardcastle said.

“Before it got very publicity on Twitter… we had regular press conferences with the Chief Medical Officer of Health. But the Health Secretary and the Prime Minister brought up vaccines at their press conferences and we really don’t get the same news anymore.”

Hardcastle fears this lack of news will result in even lower vaccine uptake in the coming months.

“The lack of vaccination messages from the government doesn’t help.”