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Booster shots expanded Seniors over 70, people who received two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, some health-care workers and people living in First Nations, Métis or Inuit communities should consider getting a booster shot of COVID-19 vaccine, according to new federal guidance. New interim guidelines were issued by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) on Friday, explaining that because of emerging evidence that suggested immunity might wane after a vaccine, these high-risk groups should be offered a booster shot. "Evidence suggests protection against infection decreases as time since completion of the primary vaccine series increases," the guidance says. "Studies suggest that a booster dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine produces a very good immune response that is generally higher than the immune response after the primary series, has a favourable safety profile, and provides good short-term protection against infection." The boosters would be an mRNA vaccine, and would come at least six months after the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Several provinces and territories have already announced plans for booster programs for the general population, ahead of NACI's announcement, including B.C., Yukon and N.W.T. Ontario will announce its plan next week. Federal officials still note, though, that booster shots are not currently recommended for everyone. "There is no evidence of any widespread waning of protection against severe disease in the general population that has been vaccinated against COVID-19," said Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer. "So boosters for the general population are not required at this time." Read the full story. In other vaccine news, the U.S. is one step closer to giving kids aged five to 11 the COVID-19 vaccine. The U.S. FDA granted emergency authorization to a smaller pediatric dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot on Friday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is expected to issue guidelines this coming week. Health Canada is reviewing Pfizer’s submission, but the regulator’s chief medical advisor, Dr. Supriya Sharma, said it’s not likely a decision would be made before mid-to-late November. 
Treating COVID-19 A research team led by a Canadian seems to have found a new, unlikely, treatment for COVID-19: the antidepressant fluvoxamine. Fluvoxamine is a cheap, widely available drug that's usually prescribed to help treat obsessive-compulsive disorder or depression. But it has some additional properties that might make it helpful for COVID-19 infection, said lead study researcher Ed Mills of McMaster University. "One of the other aspects of this particular drug, for me, is that it has immunomodulatory effects. In particular, it has anti-inflammatory effects," he said. According to the research, published Oct. 27 in the Lancet Global Health medical journal, fluvoxamine helps to reduce the rate of hospitalization in high-risk patients with COVID-19 by 32 per cent. Fluvoxamine is not yet authorized in Canada to treat COVID-19, though many experts are hopeful that this and other studies like it will eventually lead to more tools for doctors to fight the disease. Read the full story from Global News' Leslie Young. 
Q: There’s been lots of talk about boosters lately. Is it likely we will need yearly COVID-19 shots? "I think it's too early to tell," said Craig Jenne, an associate professor in the department of microbiology, immunology and infectious diseases at the University of Calgary, a member of the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases. "We don’t know how quickly this virus will continue to change into the future and how well the vaccine coverage will continue to last with the virus changing," he said. Boosters are possible though, he says, as many vaccines require booster shots – like tetanus, which needs a booster every 10 years. While seniors likely need a booster shot, said Rod Russell, a professor of virology and immunology at Memorial University, it's unclear if the broader population will need them too. "Most people under 65 likely made sufficient immune responses to their original two shots, and that would be sufficient to keep them from getting seriously ill even if they got infected," he said. "Even if their blood antibody levels decline, they should have a sufficient memory B and T cell response that will help them fight off the infection if they get it." Jenne thinks it's likely the general population will need a booster soon, but it's unclear that we will need to take them annually. "The good news right now is, you know, we’re a year in and it looks like for the average person, immunity is holding very well," he said. “But will we need a booster in the near future? Probably. I would say for the first few years, we may need boosters, but then after that, it may settle down a little bit. The virus will be less different as it continues to mutate and we'll have longer coverage from our vaccines." | 
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