Lambton Public Health (LPH) is asking eligible residents to book a booster shot appointment before attending a vaccine clinic as a significant number of people are expected to want a third dose sooner rather than later.
The health unit expanded third dose COVID-19 vaccine eligibility on Wednesday, based on guidance from the province.
In addition to high-risk individuals and long-term care residents, third dose eligibility expanded to include those 70 years of age and older, health-care workers and designated essential caregivers in congregate settings, First Nation, Inuit and Metis adults including their non-Indigenous household members 18 years of age and older, and people who received two AstraZeneca doses or one dose of Janssen.
Eligible individuals must also wait six months after their second dose in order to receive a third vaccine dose.
"We think there is going to be a substantial demand in the early days of this eligibility and then it'll probably settle down to a more routine level of people coming," said Dr. Sudit Ranade.
Unlike the process of first and second vaccine doses which went through priority levels and age groups, third dose eligibility expanded to include more people in a shorter amount of time.
"We actually have a significant population in that age group in this community, I think it's close to 30,000 people who are 70-plus," said Ranade. "That means all of a sudden, we have a large pool of people who are eligible and some portion of that group is going to be very eager to get it as soon as they can."
Ranade said although the booster shot is recommended for eligible individuals, the urgency is not as great as it was to get a first or second dose.
"If you've had two doses and it has been more than six months ago, you are still very well protected against being hospitalized or dying, those are the key outcomes that we're trying to avoid," he said. "What we think the protection is waning in some groups, especially in the older age category, is for symptomatic infection, so the likelihood that you would be symptomatically infected with COVID after a high-risk exposure."
Residents who need a first or second dose are still welcome to attend clinics without an appointment but people eligible for the booster shot need to book an appointment online.
"That is a lot of people who are eligible now and we couldn't handle the demand if all of those folks showed up," he said.
Ranade also said LPH will not hold vaccine clinics specific to third doses.
"We're going to carry on with our clinics and also increase the frequency of them because most of the people who are going to come in for COVID shots are going to start being people who are eligible for third doses so we'll just transition over."
Just over 80 per cent of eligible residents in Sarnia-Lambton have been fully vaccinated. Ranade said it's hoped that the other 20 per cent of residents 12 and up will get immunized by making vaccines more accessible, providing additional information to address concerns, and enforcing policy tools.
The next community clinic is being held on Friday, November 5 at the Point Edward Optimist Hall from 9:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
Additional clinics can be found on the health unit's website.