Nearly two years later, updated vaccines — targeting the dominant Omicron family of variants — are rolling out across the country. And at this point in the pandemic, the immunity landscape is much more complex. “Now what we have are different people who have been vaccinated at different times, maybe even with different vaccines. Many people have been infected and recovered from COVID-19 at various points in time as well,” said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at the University Health Network in Toronto. “So it’s much more difficult to have a unified approach to getting the vaccine out there.” The timing of the next dose now depends on your risk level and when you were last vaccinated or infected — with federal guidance suggesting that most Canadian adults should wait up to six months or so before getting another shot, or about three months in conditions where the risk of serious illness is higher. To understand the best approach, CBC News spoke with a range of medical experts — including infectious disease specialists, immunologists and virologists — and reviewed the latest guidelines from Canada’s top vaccine advisers. We’ve broken down their advice into a step-by-step process. You can take the quiz below to see how it applies to you. Or keep reading to learn the science behind how to time your next souvenir to prevent a COVID infection as much as possible.
