An additional bivalent covid-19 vaccine has been made available to seniors living in congregate care facilities, and Strathmore Value Drug Mart will be traveling to the Wheatland Lodge today to administer vaccines for seniors.
As of March 20, 2023, Alberta Health Services (AHS) began rolling out this additional vaccine booster program, which is expected to take several weeks to complete for the entire province. Seniors who have received a Pfizer or Moderna bivalent booster dose on or after September 21, 2022, are eligible for this additional new booster, so long as there has been a 3-month period between the previous vaccine or infection.
Other groups of Albertans who may be at a higher risk of severe outcomes from covid are also eligible for an additional booster. This includes:
- Albertans 65 years of age or older.
- Albertans over the age of 18 with certain immunocompromising conditions.
The booster is not made available to the general public because AHS considers these people up to date. This is for the following reasons:
- Relatively stable covid activity in recent months, including generally high levels of protection against covid.
- Previous infection with covid and immunization provides better protection, called hybrid immunity, compared with immunization only or previous infection without immunization.
- Older adults are more likely to only be immunized, meaning they lack hybrid immunity. Thus, they are at greater risk.
- Adolescents and younger adults have the highest proportion of hybrid immunity.
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Fri, May 17, 10:00 AM
Part-time, Permanent, Healthcare