COVID Q&A with Dr. Zain Chagla
Watch St. Joe's Infectious Disease Physician Dr. Zain Chagla answer your top questions about the Omicron variant.
Q: What is the biggest concern with Omicron?
A: This can infect people that are vaccinated and unvaccinated. You know, that means there are going to be more infections in our community. There are going to be more vulnerable people who get infections and some of those people are going to need hospital care. And the sheer number of people that are getting infected will mean that there will be a number of people who will need hospital care, that will need much more than we’ve seen ever before during the pandemic.
Q: How effective are boosters against Omicron?
A: We are seeing that vaccines work less effectively against Omicron. But the good news is that boosters do restore some of that effectiveness. The booster, done appropriately in someone that has two doses of vaccines, can get their prevention for getting symptomatic COVID-19 up to 75% to 80%. Which is some of the numbers that we saw at the beginning of our vaccine campaign for prior variants.
Q: I thought I was already protected with two vaccines. Am I more protected with a booster?
A: Prior to the Omicron variant, we think two doses of vaccine gave people somewhere between 75% - 90% effectiveness. With Omicron, that goes down to 30-40%, and actually much lower if you only received AstraZeneca. With a booster, though, things go back up to about 75-80% protection against COVID-19 and so there is a big rationale here for people to consider getting their third shot.
Protect yourself and your loved ones. Book an appointment for your first, second or booster shot at Hamilton.ca/GetYourVaccine.