Modelling used to prepare the health-care system for the fall COVID and flu season projects up to 700 additional patients hospitalized over the coming months.
B.C.’s provincial health officer says it’s unlikely a new COVID‑19 variant will emerge but she’s concerned the province could see a surge in both the virus and the flu in the late fall.
On the positive side, Henry doesn’t expect a new variant of COVID-19 to emerge in the fall. The highly transmissible Omicron strain has had the longest run of all the variants, persisting for about 10 months. The subvariants of Omicron may change — BA.1 was overtaken by BA.5 and BA.5.1 and now BA2.75 and BA.4 are returning — but the mutations are all within the same variant of concern and within the same genetic code linked to Omicron, she said.
Public-health experts are most concerned about respiratory infections that are particularly challenging for children, including respiratory syncytial virus, commonly called RSV, as there is no vaccination for it. “I want to emphasize again that all of us have some power and some control over that,” said Dix. “You can get immunized against influenza, immunized by bivalent vaccine against COVID 19.”
Flu shots are free for everyone age six months and older. Those age 65 and older will be offered influenza vaccines that provide additional protection — Fluzone for seniors in long-term care and assisted living and Fluad for seniors living in the community. Invitations for the bivalent booster have been going out for the last month, as those who got their boosters in the spring come due for their fourth shot.