Nova Scotia is spending $6.9 million to launch a new program to vaccinate or protect infants and some seniors against respiratory syncytial virus.
Up until now, only high-risk children under two years old and adults in long-term care were offered a vaccine for the common but highly contagious seasonal infection that’s known as RSV. Infants and seniors are often the hardest hit by RSV, which can lead to bronchiolitis and pneumonia.
Starting this fall, the province will offer coverage to all infants who are less than eight months old and anyone over the age of 75. Infants will be offered Beyfortus, which isn’t actually a vaccine but a monoclonal antibody.
Dr. Joanne Langley, the head of the division of infectious diseases at the IWK Health Centre, said this initiative is a turning point for the health-care system.
“Every winter at the IWK, we are just overburdened in the emergency room [because of RSV], we don’t have enough beds,” Langley said.
“So there’s the protection to the infants that will get this product, but also the more broader effect on all children that need health care.”
She said other provinces and territories that use this protection have seen a reduction in RSV hospitalizations of nearly 85 per cent.
This is the second major change to the province’s vaccination program this year. In May, Nova Scotia started offering the shingles vaccine to anyone 65 and older.
Dr. Robert Strang, the chief medical officer of health, says the two moves represent the most profound investments in vaccine that he’s seen in his career.
Ample supply, slow delivery
But Strang and Health Minister Michelle Thompson warned that people should be patient as they try to get appointments.
Adults will be offered Arexvy or Abrysvo, vaccines that come in packaging the Health Department says is comparable to the size of a tissue box. That means logistically, pharmacies and doctors’ offices are only able to store a limited amount at a time.
“Vaccines need to be kept in a certain way at a certain temperature, and we need to guarantee that for efficacy of the vaccine,” said Thompson.
“Even though there may be, say, 2,000 seniors that are eligible in a community, the ability for us to be able to store 2,000 vaccines in that area will mean that it needs to come in shipments.”
Strang said that’s why the program for seniors is being launched now, months before COVID and flu shots are released.
“There’s lots of time for people to get immunized well ahead of RSV season for seniors,” he said.
RSV shots for seniors will be launched in pharmacies and public health clinics on Sept. 15. Strang said doctors’ offices will receive their supplies later in the fall.
Unlike the vaccines for COVID and influenza, people only need to get vaccinated once, he said.
He said there’s a chance they may need booster shots down the road, but this initial launch will be the busiest phase with the highest demand.
“We’re very comfortable that we have adequate amounts of the vaccine. We don’t have the ability to immunize everybody today or in one day,” he emphasized.
The program for infants will be launched on Oct. 15 to be closer to the typical start of RSV season.
Babies born in hospital will be offered the shots before they’re discharged. Any infants less than eight months old who miss that option can receive it through their primary care provider.
Thompson noted the program’s cost will go down in future years after the first immunization waves are completed.
