Shot and chaser — get the double immunization

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/10/2024 (584 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There were 42 hospital admissions in Manitoba related to the COVID-19 virus during the week of Oct. 6 to 12, including nine patients that ended up in an intensive care unit.

Six people died from the virus that week, according to the province’s weekly respiratory surveillance reports.

The week prior, there were 57 COVID-19 hospital admissions, including nine in the ICU and 10 deaths.

Since June 30, there have been 674 COVID-19 hospital admissions, 73 of which were in ICU.

Those outcomes are far less severe than what the province experienced during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when dozens of deaths and hundreds of hospital admissions were reported for weeks on end. But it’s a stark reminder of how the virus is not only still with us, but that it remains potentially deadly for many, particularly among the elderly and those in high-risk groups.

Natural immunity to the virus that has built up since the pandemic is helping to protect many people. But vaccines are also a key part of keeping many of those infected with the virus out of hospital.

The situation is similar with influenza, which is also potentially deadly for some. Chief public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin, who held a news conference with Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara last week to kick off the fall vaccination campaign, said not a single patient admitted to hospital last year with influenza-related concerns was vaccinated.

Think about that.

Which is why it’s concerning that only about a quarter of Manitobans got a flu shot last year (slightly better than previous years, but still too low).

The numbers were worse for COVID-19: only 19 per cent were vaccinated against the virus in 2023. Considering everything we know about the effectiveness of immunization, that uptake is disappointingly low.

The province is aiming to improve those numbers this year and has launched an advertising campaign to convince more people to get the shot for COVID-19 and the flu.

The health minister is using the slogan “One visit. Two shots” to urge residents to get vaccinated for both at the same time.

“While health-care workers take care of our most vulnerable and our sickest Manitobans, it is our job, each and every one of us, to make sure that we are doing everything that we can to protect ourselves, our loved ones and communities from illness this season,” the minister said.

That means not only doing all the things that were reinforced during the pandemic — such as hand washing and staying home when sick — but also getting vaccinated. Doing so not only helps protect those who are immunized, it reduces the spread of the virus, which mitigates risk for the elderly, the very young and those with compromised immune systems. There is both an individual and collective benefit to getting vaccinated.

Dr. Roussin said he was particularly concerned that last year the number of children under the age of five who got a flu shot dropped.

“We really want to focus on that because we know that’s a very high-risk group,” Roussin said.

Influenza and COVID-19 vaccines, both widely available as of this week, are easy to access. They are available at medical clinics, ACCESS centres, vaccine clinics, pharmacies and nursing stations through public health. Most are by appointment and only take a few minutes to administer.

The more people who get immunized, the fewer hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths Manitobans will see.

It’s a small effort for such a substantial benefit.