Dr. Lisa Barrett on bivalent boosters, the flu shot, and third fall with COVID-19

At this point in the pandemic, many people have returned to their previous COVID-19 behaviours. They’re no longer wearing masks, are doing more in-person shopping and attending large events, and as the temperature drops and the holiday season gets underway, many people will be spending more time indoors and around more people.

Infectious disease specialist Dr. Lisa Barrett weighed in on what we can expect during the third fall-winter season living in a pandemic during an interview with CTV Morning Live Atlantic Tuesday.

She says the focus in the Maritimes has shifted from individual COVID-19 numbers to thinking more broadly about the respiratory season. But, she adds, there is still high rates of the virus in the community.

“We see it in our hospitals, whether people come in with lung problems, or breathing problems, or other body systems that are affected when then they have their COVID,” she says.

In addition to COVID-19, cases of the flu are also popping up across the country.

Flu shot appointments opened in Nova Scotia last week, with public health saying there have been “a few” influenza cases in the province already.

“We are very much coming in to both the usual respiratory viruses, plus COVID at a rate that we’d expect -- meaning we should all be aware of how we need to stay healthy in the next number of months,” says Barrett.

As people are rolling up their sleeves for their bivalent boosters, there is also word of two new Omicron variants.

While some refer to them as “fast-spreading” variants, Barrett says that is a relative term.

“Whether or not they’re more spreadable is not quite clear yet. To be honest, I just assume that whatever Omicron viruses that are going around, or other COVID viruses, are very, very spreadable. The subtleties of how much more spreadable? Not relevant.”

Barrett adds that the fall dose people are getting is designed to “update and maximize” their immunity against COVID-19, and not entirely meant to protect against infection.

“That was never the plan,” she says. “The goal is to update and optimize your chance of staying away from the hospital in the fall if you run into COVID. The bivalent vaccines are there to add more heft, to add more robustness to your response to COVID, and certainly the bivalents are the way to go.”

Barrett points to three things people should keep in mind during the colder months -- the first being that people should spread out their boosters from a possible previous COVID-19 infection at the recommended length of time.

She says people should also test for COVID if they have cold symptoms so they can get vaccines at the right time to give their body “the best shot at the best response.”

“And number three, do make sure that you get it along with your influenza vaccine -- both are important this season.”

For people who may be hesitant to get their fall booster, Barrett says vaccines work best at preventing vulnerable people from getting sick when most people get them.

“But don’t forget there’s a pure ‘for yourself’ reason to get an additional dose of vaccine this fall. You want the best protection,” she says. “To stay healthy, to stay well this fall and to get the most out of our post-COVID lockdown life, it’s a really good idea to stay healthy. Nobody wants to be sick … so the booster if good for individual people too.”

When looking ahead to the winter, Barrett says the key is to be prepared.

“The influenza circulating in other parts of the world is primarily something called H3N2. It can cause quite severe influenza. Add COVID to that and it’s not just your lungs, it’s other systems, so people with other health problems may end up in hospitals. We all need to be aware that this may be a difficult season coming up.”

However, she says people can still enjoy everyday things safely.

“No one is saying, ‘Don’t go see your favourite crooner at a big concert,’ but consider wearing some masks at times like this so we can stay healthy ourselves, but also keep the virus at a reasonable level that, let’s enough of us get to work and look after people if, and when, they do need help in hospital systems.”

When asked if she thinks there is an end in sight to the pandemic, Barrett says that is more of a “worldwide issue” but she does agree that we are into its next phase.

“People should be reassured that we’re into the management part of the pandemic,” she says. “Do the easy stuff and hopefully in a year we’ll be able to say something like, ‘The pandemic is now at a close and we’ve gone past that management stage.’ We’re getting there!”