Waning COVID immunity cause for concern over holidays in B.C.: expert

Some of the anxiety and risk around holiday gatherings in B.C. could be eased if the province sped up its booster program and made rapid tests more widely available, according to one expert.

Dr. Brian Conway says most vaccinated British Columbians who got their second dose in the summer have waning protection — especially against the Omicron variant.

“Protection against Omicron provided by the double vaccination program is about 30 per cent less effective than it would have been for Delta, and over time we already know that protection decreases,” he explains.

“We were talking as recently as a week ago that the third shot could wait eight months, then six, then four.”

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He thinks the province should consider following Ontario’s lead and make a third dose of the vaccine available to everyone who got their second shot three months ago or more.

“These kinds of measures should be considered to make our environment here in British Columbia more safe. I think we should be giving out the boosters more broadly and more quickly,” he says.

“I think the best thing we can do in British Columbia is: get your first two shots; let’s accelerate the booster program; increase the number of ways into the vaccine program; make it more readily available at more locations that are more convenient to people.”

Widespread availability of rapid tests is another thing Conway thinks could help protect people over the holidays and amid rising daily case counts. One of the reasons B.C. officials have given for limiting access to these tests is that negative results might give people a false sense of security.

“There’s false positives and false negatives, but particularly false negatives in vaccinated people,” Dr. Bonnie Henry said Tuesday.

“Rapid tests are really helpful in certain situations where you’ve been exposed to a high-risk setting or where you’ve been exposed to somebody with COVID. What they are not helpful for is a one-off in a vaccinated person who wants to go to a party because the tests are not sensitive enough.”

RELATED: Omicron, holidays, lead to surge in rapid test buying in B.C.

However, Conway says this argument misses the mark, and that the tests are useful for detecting cases in people who are asymptomatic.

“The rapid test is most useful if it’s positive. It allows us to exclude individuals who would have been at risk of transmitting COVID to others especially indoors,” he says.

“Rapid tests are not meant to be used to ensure that it is safe to be with others. If you test negative you still have to follow all of the regulations, precautions that are in place. The main use of these tests would be to find people who are infected and did not yet know it. In that context. It could be tremendously useful in making our holiday gatherings safer.”

Even if access to booster doses and rapid tests is not ramped up, Conway says taking what are now familiar precautions will be crucial for a safe holiday season.

Obviously, vaccinated people visiting vaccinated people in an environment that is made as safe as possible is still permitted, and is still relatively safe — perhaps a little less safe than it was before Omicron. But if proper precautions are taken, the risk can largely be mitigated,” he says.

“Try and keep the gatherings small, keep people spaced out, invest in a good sweater so you can open the doors and windows to enhance ventilation, and think about wearing a mask if you’re not actively drinking or eating.”