Only 15% of Canadians aged five and up are continuing to get their Covid-19 shots, according to new data from the Government of Canada.
Under one-third of Canadians over the age of 60 have received the latest vaccine and only about 44% of people over the age of 70.
There is a slight increase up to 48%, for those over the age of 80 being “up to date” with their boosters.
“Why that gap exists is both an interesting and difficult question,” Dr. Allison McGeer, an infectious diseases specialist with Sinai Health in Toronto told CBC News. “I think it’s because people just aren’t getting the message about how much of a risk COVID is.”
Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam has been urging people to keep getting their shots, saying that there is “room for improvement” amongst older Canadians.
“That’s the group, of course, that has the highest risk of severe outcomes,” said Tam. “They’ve been protecting themselves. They’ve been getting vaccinated,” she added. “But the vaccine base protection can wane over time… even protection against severe outcomes wanes over time.”
The ultimate reason could be that Canadians don’t want to maintain a regimen of vaccines that wear off over a short time frame or fears over vaccine side effects.
This sentiment could be further substantiated by the fact that hospitalizations have remained stable and the rate of Covid-19 deaths has steadily been in decline since October, according to the latest data.
Infectious diseases specialist at McGill University Dr. Donald Vinh said that the latest vaccine formula “produces antibodies that neutralize a lot of variants within the XBB lineage.”
“But it won’t protect people from necessarily getting infected,” said Vinh, who believes that those with an increased risk of severe illness from Covid-19 should “definitely” get the new shot.
“We also think that people who live in congregate settings … like in long-term care homes, foster care homes, homeless people in shelters or inmates who are incarcerated … definitely should get it,” said Vinh.
