what the vaccine-hesitant should know about booster shots

just as the virus that causes covid-19 continues to mutate, and public health recommendations change as we learn more about variants, people who oppose the covid vaccine have new concerns. there may be some people who still conflate side effects with adverse effects, or who believe they don’t need the vaccine if they’re young and healthy. but now, as canada has started giving out covid vaccine boosters — first to the immunocompromised and the elderly, with eligibility gradually increasing — people who are vaccine-hesitant now have new booster-related issues to cite.“it’s understandable for people to have these concerns,” says biologist and science communicator krishana sankar. she regularly speaks to the vaccine-hesitant, answering their questions and providing them with information. “there definitely are some people who are not on board for getting a booster.”here are some of the most common arguments she hears against the booster, and how she combats them.

‘if we need boosters, then the vaccine doesn’t work’

the need for a booster doesn’t mean that the vaccine doesn’t work, says sankar — it just means the protection they provide does gradually start to wear off.“what we do know so far, is that at least six to eight months after getting your second dose, you have a fair amount of antibodies to fight against the sars‑cov‑2 virus. you’re protected — very well protected against covid,” sankar says. “but after that, it starts to wane a bit, and that’s why we need that booster shots to kind of reignite the immune system.”she also notes that this isn’t specific to covid. many other vaccines require boosters, including ones that have been around far longer than the covid vaccines.“in medicine, this is something that’s happened before when we’ve had to deal with disease,” sankar says. she regularly reminds people that canada recommends four doses of the polio vaccine, for instance. polio is an infectious disease that used to paralyze or kill thousands of canadians a year, mostly children; outbreaks were especially bad in the 1940s and early ’50s. a vaccine was first introduced in 1955; polio is no longer a problem on a large scale in canada.

‘boosters are a slippery slope for government control’

some people who oppose the idea of mandatory vaccinations because they fear government control talk about boosters as unfair. the government initially barred people who didn’t receive a full vaccine program from going to some public spaces and performing certain jobs — but now it’s conceivable that even those we currently consider to be ‘fully vaccinated’ may, in the future, not be allowed to do certain things until they get a booster. in fact, france announced this week that people aged 65 and over would not be allowed to access restaurants, trains or planes without proof of a booster shot.the first thing to note is that as of mid-december, the canadian government hasn’t yet mandated booster shots. sankar says she has no way of knowing what may be mandated in the future. but public health rules have always served a specific purpose: to prevent transmission of the virus that causes covid. as we get new information about how the disease spreads and what protection looks like, it’s possible those rules will change.“the booster shot would only be recommended by health canada and naci [canada’s national advisory committee on immunization] because it is safe,” she says. “they would not be recommending something that is unsafe.”and if health canada does end up mandating boosters, that wouldn’t be a sinister new threat to take away our rights — it would be in line with how vaccines rules have worked in canada for decades.“again, having a complete vaccine series is not something new, and it is not something that is dangerous,” sankar says. “it has been done in the past safely.”

‘vaccines don’t work against the new variants’

yes, it’s troubling that omicron and other new variants are attacking the virus’ spike protein — but a lack of vaccination is largely driving those mutations.“it’s important for people to know that even though some of the preliminary data is saying that there’s a reduction in the neutralizing antibodies of those who are vaccinated, that is not a completely negative thing, because we still have our t cell responses,” sankar says, adding that these are the same debates that have been happening around the other variants delta and mu, as well.“every time a new variant of concern pops up, we see a lot of anti-vaxxers come out of the woodwork to say that the vaccines are not effective,” she says. “that sort of rhetoric would permeate through some people who might still have some hesitancy to get vaccinated.”but promising data actually shows that added immunity is powerful against the virus. sakar refers to someone who was infected with the virus, and also had two vaccine doses had more protection agains the variants.“that’s why, for example, someone with a booster shot would then potentially have additional protection against the variant,” she says.maija kappler is a reporter and editor at healthing. she can be reached at mkappler@postmedia.com