COVID-19 boosters recommended this fall ahead of future pandemic wave: NACI

The new guidance recommends boosters should be offered to those at increased risk of severe illness, and may be offered to all other Canadians.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) is recommending vaccine booster shots this fall in advance of a possible future wave of COVID-19 in Canada.

The guidance issued Wednesday recommends Canadians at increased risk of serious illness from COVID-19 should be offered a fall booster dose “regardless of the number of booster doses previously received.”

It says this should include people 65 years of age and older, residents of long-term care or living facilities, and individuals 12 years of age and older with an underlying medical condition that places them at high risk of severe COVID-19.

The recommendation also includes adults in Indigenous, racialized and marginalized communities where infection can have disproportionate consequences, as well as quarters for migrant workers, shelters, correctional facilities and group homes.

NACI also recommends that boosters may be offered to all other individuals from 12 to 64 years of age, regardless of how many booster doses they have previously received.

It says it will provide recommendations on the type of COVID-19 vaccine to be offered for this booster dose as evidence on appropriate vaccines becomes available.

NACI notes that while the likelihood, timing and severity of a future wave of the pandemic is uncertain, an increase in cases is possible in late fall and winter as people spend more time indoors.

COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations have fallen steeply from the peak of the sixth wave early this year, but those numbers have flatlined over the past couple of weeks.