COVID fatigue, public health messaging may be to blame for low 3rd dose uptake

As COVID-19 restrictions continue to loosen across Ontario, some saypublic health officials failed to stress the importance of third doses.

Only 47.3 per cent of people have received a third dose, according to Public Health Ontario dataup toFeb. 27. That's compared to 81 per cent who've had two doses, or a gap of about 5.5 million people.

Ontario lifted the vaccine mandate at the beginning of the month and could liftthe mask mandate bythe end of Marchas the number of hospitalizationshas continued amostly downward trendsince mid-January.

"We still have a possibility tomess this up if we just move too fast," said Dr. PeterJni, leader of Ontario's COVID-19 ScienceAdvisory Table.

The percentage of people with a third dose increases with age, with more than 80 per cent of people over the age of 70 and more than half of those between the ages of 40 and 69having a third dose, PHO said.

In Ottawa,61 per cent of people 12 and older have a third dose. The only health units with higher rates are in Leeds, Grenville and Lanark counties and the Kingston area.

But that number is not rising rapidly. Only around 10,000third doses are given out each day across the province, Jnisaid, adding more people per day an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 are instead acquiring less effective, piecemeal immunityby contracting the Omicron variant.

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Dr. Peter Jni, who leads Ontario's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, says immunity to COVID-19 from natural infection and vaccinations will make it harder for the virus to spread, even as restrictions are slowly loosened.

"I think that as public health, we dropped the ball on this one," said Dr. Doug Manuel, senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital.

"I'm concerned that we didn't communicate this well."

He compared COVID vaccinations to having to continuously fill up your vehicle's gas tank:it's only full when you leave the gas station or vaccine clinic.

COVID fatigue likely to blame

Manuelsaid after two years, fatigue has taken over for both the public and health-care workers causing a drop inpeople's motivation to get vaccinated, despite being told three doses provides better protection against Omicron.

What had been one of the most effective behaviour-modifying tactics, vaccine passports, alsostopped working, he said.

"There's less receptivity for them especially at this stage of the pandemic."

Ottawa Public Healthacknowledged in a statementmore needs to be done to "stress the effectiveness of three doses against Omicron" and said ithas been working withcommunity groups to removebarriers for people trying to get a vaccine.

In Renfrew County, the average third dose numbers are comparable to the rest of the province, but sit around 30 per cent for those betweenthe ages of 18 and 50 a figure the area's medical officer of health, Dr. Robert Cushman, called"terrible."

"This is sad because this is a failure on the part of public health, on the part of the community," he said, adding lifting restrictions andremoval of the vaccine passport, along with the unwillingness to make them three-dose passports hasn't helped.

"This has sort of aided and abetted poor compliance, low enthusiasm for getting a third shot and that's really too bad."

Cushman says it will come down to timing and a revitalizing of effortsaroundmessaging to increase vaccine uptake if andwhen another variant of concern arrives.

He also suggested looking atgrouping COVID-19 vaccinations with influenza ones in autumn.

"All around it's going to be a slog and we just have to remind people and do our best and hopefully people take this to heart."