Studies show interval between COVID-19 vaccine doses should be reviewed

CALGARY (CityNews) — Questions are being raised about the 4-month interval between vaccine doses.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommends four months between first and second vaccination doses, but new studies are casting doubt on that timeline.

“The highest risk groups, like immune-compromised patients and the very elderly, are the ones where we would be looking to see changes to the protocol the earliest.”

Dr. Lynora Saxinger, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Alberta says work is being done to understand the nuances between different groups.

“There’s some data now on cancer patients, but not that much. There is some data on long-term care residents who might have a lesser anti-body response which has to be reviewed.

“With that, we have to keep looking at the real world experience because antibody levels aren’t the whole story. We actually want to see what’s happened in places like long-term care where there have been outbreaks, but a large number of people have received their first dose.” 

Dr. Saxinger says research is ongoing, and provinces will follow the latest advice when it becomes available.  

There’s also new information emerging about the effect vaccinations have on long-haulers, or people suffering lingering symptoms for months after testing negative for COVID-19.

“People with those symptoms – at least a good proportion — report that they’ve had a reduction of those symptoms after vaccination. There’s been some that say there’s no difference

“I don’t see a significant signal that anything has been worse.” 

Dr. Saxinger says we are seeing lower numbers of cases in age groups being vaccinated, but that with variants on the rise, transmission in younger populations could become out of control – and vigilance is needed now more than ever.