Waiting for a booster: Why some Maritimers don’t have the third shot yet

There’s been steady traffic at Greg Richard’s Halifax pharmacy, where he is keeping busy with back-to-back COVID-19 booster appointments.

“We've been full tilt, every day, all day,” says Richard.

The pharmacist says he hasn’t encountered much reluctance in those rolling up their sleeves.

“Most people I think have already made their mind up,” he says. “But obviously we're always here to talk and work through the process if people are struggling with the decision of whether to get a booster or not.”

Sharon Johnson and Keith Swindells both received their third COVID-19 vaccine dose from Richard on Monday.

Johnson had previously booked her appointment, but Swindells wasn’t expecting he’d get his as well.

“We had to go get tested (for COVID) and I didn't get the results back in time, so I had to cancel (a previous appointment),” explains Swindells. “So I talked to this gentleman, and he said, ‘If you can wait around today, I can give you one today’.”

So, that’s what Swindells did.

 For them, it’s an important part of trying to stay safe during the Omicron wave.

“I am now 75 and I have three 40-year-old children who have given me (young) grandchildren, so for me it's important,” says Johnson.

Forty-three per cent of eligible Nova Scotians have received a third dose. In New Brunswick, 38.7 per cent have their booster.On Prince Edward Island that figure is 28 per cent.

John Morris is one Islander who hasn’t had his booster yet.

“My vaccines are a tad behind everybody else,” says Morris.

He waited for his first round of vaccines in order to let others go first.

“Not because I don't believe in them; it's just that I did not want to be first, because I did not feel that I needed to take up a spot from someone that has an actual need for it,” explains Morris.

It means he had to wait the recommended period between doses.

His booster is now booked for Wednesday.

In Cole Harbour, N.S., Carol Bernardo is still trying to get her appointment booked. She is feeling frustrated after things filled up quickly when she last tried about 10 days ago.

“I didn't try today because I kind of gave up a little bit,” she says.

Bernardo also blames difficulties in getting the Nova Scotia booking site to recognize her address. At one point, an appointment at a nearby pharmacy she was in the process of making was gone by the time she sorted it all out.

“And I tried six or seven times and it told me the same thing every time and I did everything I could,” she adds.

When told the booking site had more appointments available Monday, Bernardo said she would try again.

“Given what we know, the safest thing is for everyone to get a third dose,” says Dr. Joanne Langley of the Canadian Center for Vaccinology.

Langley is the lead investigator among researchers across the country, studying the impact of a third mRNA dose on immunity in those with the same types of vaccine for their previous doses. That study is ongoing.

She says anyone hesitant to get a third shot should know how much it ups immunity, with an 80 – 90 per cent boost in protection against hospitalization.

“The third dose seems to increase your immune response enough to reduce the frequency at which people are needing to get health care, and get admitted to hospital,” explains Langley.

“What we found, especially as Omicron started to circulate, is that the infectiousness was so high that so many people got infected at the same time that the percentage of the population that got seriously ill was smaller, but because it transmitted so quickly, a lot of people were needing to go to hospital at once.”

Langley says any serious reported adverse effects are rare. She says myocarditis and pericarditis -- types of heart inflammation -- are examples.

“That’s why in Canada we’re providing a longer interval between the first and the second dose in young people and avoiding, in people 29 and under, the Moderna vaccine,” she says.

As for anyone who is suffering from COVID-19 symptoms, or has tested positive, pharmacist Greg Richard says those people can get a booster after their isolation is complete and any symptoms are gone.