How seniors can access 4 key vaccines this fall — for COVID, flu, pneumonia, and RSV

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With COVID-19 hospitalizations rising again, plus early signals suggesting other respiratory viruses are starting to circulate, Canada has an expanded slate of vaccines for seniors in its arsenal. 

COVID, influenza, pneumococcal, and — for the first time — respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines will all be available this fall for older adults. 

There's hope the mix of new and updated shots will help keep more seniors out of hospital as health-care teams brace for the possibility of yet another busy fall and winter.

But while older Canadians may have more options to protect themselves than ever before, physicians warn staggered rollouts, patchwork approaches among the provinces, and high costs for certain shots could hinder uptake.

"The vaccine landscape is becoming more promising for older Canadians," said Dr. Samir Sinha, the director of geriatrics at Sinai Health System in Toronto. "It's also becoming a bit more complicated."

Here's what seniors need to know about the slate of shots arriving this fall.

Updated COVID vaccines are already starting to roll out in various provinces, at different times.

Monovalent, mRNA-based shots from Pfizer and Moderna, which target the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant, have already been approved by Health Canada, and a third, non-mRNA option from Novavax is still under review.

"The most current versions have been adjusted to be effective against the newest variants," said Dr. Roger Wong, clinical professor in geriatric medicine at the University of British Columbia. 

The delivery of flu shots to the provinces and territories is also well underway, a spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) told CBC News.

Vaccines for pneumococcal disease are routinely offered as well — offering protection against potentially-deadly infections caused by the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae, which can lead to serious pneumonia. 

And the newest shot rolling out later this respiratory virus season is GSK's vaccine for RSV, which was approved by Health Canada in August for adults 60 and up.

RSV is highly contagious, and for most people, it manifests like a common cold. But in more vulnerable populations, RSV can cause bronchiolitis — the inflammation of the small airways in the lungs — or pneumonia.