By Shane Clausing

fourth doses for Immunocompromised

Fourth COVID-19 doses to be made available for only Immunocompromised Albertans Jan. 20

Jan 18, 2022 | 5:18 PM

The Alberta government has announced that starting January 20, immunocompromised individuals who received their third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine over five months ago can book an appointment for a fourth dose.

There are more than 80,000 Albertans eligible to receive a fourth dose of vaccine.

The move to fourth doses is in alignment with recommendations from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) and the Alberta Advisory Committee on Immunization (AACI).

The fourth dose of vaccine will only be made available to those over the age of 18.

Qualifying conditions include:

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Immunocompromising conditions that qualify adults aged 18 and older for a fourth dose at least five months after a third dose include:

• Transplant recipients, including solid organ transplants and hematopoietic stem cell transplants.
• Individuals with malignant hematologic disorders and non-hematologic malignant solid tumors prior to receiving or receiving active treatment (chemotherapy, targeted therapies, immunotherapy or having received previous COVID-19 vaccines while on active treatment), excluding individuals receiving solely hormonal therapy, radiation therapy, or a surgical intervention.
• Individuals being treated with an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody such as Rituximab.
• Individuals with chronic kidney disease on dialysis.
• Recipients of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T-cell therapy.
• Individuals with moderate to severe primary immunodeficiency (e.g., DiGeorge syndrome, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome).
• Individuals with Stage 3 or advanced HIV infection and those with acquired COVID-19 immunization.
• Individuals undergoing immunosuppressive therapies (e.g., anti-B cell therapies, high-dose systemic corticosteroids, alkylating agents, antimetabolites, or tumornecrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors and other biologic agents).
• Individuals on certain medications for autoimmune diseases, including rituximab, ocrelizumab and ofatumumab.

“Three doses are in fact considered to be a primary vaccine series for someone who is immunocompromised in terms of comparing the level of protection to the other person without immunocompromising conditions,” said Alberta chief medical officer of health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw. “Given this, providing a fourth dose to these individuals is equivalent to a third dose for others.”

“This will not only help prevent some breakthrough infections that we’ve been seeing but also decrease the chance that people with immunocompromising conditions could have severe outcomes from COVID-19,” Hinshaw added.

Hinshaw wanted to re-iterate fourth doses are only for those who are immunocompromised and only for those over the age of 18.

“To be clear, fourth doses are only recommended at this time for those who have these specific medical conditions and are immunocompromised,” she explained.

“Others who do not have these clinical conditions are not eligible for fourth doses, even if they’re nearing five months from a third dose they had received for travel purposes.”

So far, third and fourth doses are not available to youth under the age of 18.