Staying Up-To-Date With COVID Booster Shots

Fourth doses, or second booster doses, recommended for 60+ & First Nations & Metis

Article by Valerie MacDonald

Even as the region’s first case of monkeypox was announced this week in neighbouring Peterborough, the local Medical Officer of Health (MOH) is recommending those eligible for second booster shots for COVID-19 protection, get them.

“Fourth doses, or second booster doses, are currently recommended for individuals aged 60 and older, as well as First Nation, Inuit and Metis individuals and their non-Indigenous household members aged 18 years and older,” Dr. Natalie Bocking told the News Now Network in an interview. “Staying ‘up to date’ with COVID-19 vaccination is particularly important for individuals at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 infection. This includes individuals of advancing age and those with moderately or severely immuno-compromising medical conditions. These are the individuals we would like to see first in line for their second booster doses.”

Getting this 2nd booster has kind of been lost in the list of anti-COVID-19 protections being dropped recently by order of the provincial government including the wearing of masks in health facilities like hospitals – although they are still being required at most including the one in Cobourg. This move away from mask wearing for COVID-19 protection, plus growing health officials’ attention around monkeypox, has helped shift the attention away from getting 2nd COVID-19 booster shots.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has been meeting behind doors to determine if the status of monkeypox, a viral infection that can be spread between humans and animals, as well as between humans, needs to be elevated.

“Symptoms of monkeypox typically include a fever, intense headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy, swollen lymph nodes and a skin rash or lesions,” the WHO is quoted as stating its Website. “The rash usually begins within one to three days of the start of a fever. Lesions can be flat or slightly raised, filled with clear or yellowish fluid, and can then crust, dry up and fall off. The number of lesions on one person can range from a few to several thousand. The rash tends to be concentrated on the face, palms of the hands and soles of the feet. They can also be found on the mouth, genitals and eyes.”

The WHO has advised that “symptoms typically last between 2 to 4 weeks and go away on their own without treatment.” 

It is spread by close contact including that with bodily fluids and contaminated bedding or dishes, and special public health advice has been issued for gay and bisexual individuals.

“If you think you have symptoms that could be monkeypox, seek advice from your health care provider. Let them know if you have had close contact with someone who has suspected or confirmed monkeypox.”

While the WHO is focusing on monkey pox, however, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health has joined local health unit MOH’s encouraging those who haven’t received their 2nd booster of protection for COVID-19 and its variants, to do so if eligible.

Reducing the chance of being infected can reduce the risk of “serious illness, hospitalization and death,” states the provincial release. 

#healthunit, #monkeypox, #covid, #boostershots, #vaccine