Canada allocates $732 million CAD for vaccines for poor countries
Doctors believe that most Canadians don't need a fourth shot.
On May 12, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended the virtual Global Summit on COVID-19 and announced Canada's contribution to the overall fight against the spread of the virus. Participating countries at the summit, convened by the U.S., believe that helping countries that can't provide their populations with vaccines is the best strategy at this time.
Canada's National Immunization Advisory Committee recommended in late March that a second booster dose of the vaccine be given only to people over the age of 70 or to those who are immunocompromised.
Although protection against coronavirus weakens some time after vaccination, so far Canada believes that one booster dose is enough. Statistics confirm that if people are infected after three doses of the vaccine, they have an easier time with the disease.
Even Canada's most populous provinces are not about to return to a mask regime and widespread requirement for vaccination certificates anytime soon. A new outbreak of coronavirus is now feared in Atlantic Canada. COVID-19 infection rates in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are twice the national average.
British Columbia and Ontario are working to get a second booster dose of the vaccine to all seniors as soon as possible. Ontario has lowered the age after which a fourth shot is recommended to 60 years of age. For Indigenous people, the age limit is even lower: in B.C., they get the second booster dose after age 55, and in the Yukon Territory, after age 50.
