Lambton's top doctor paid a visit to the CHOK (103.9 FM/1070AM) studio Thursday morning to answer COVID-19 related questions from residents.
For the fourth time since the start of the pandemic, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Sudit Ranade took calls for about 90 minutes.
He kicked off the live call-in show saying this is a particular time in this pandemic, where we are starting to move into an endemic situation.
"It means that the disease is present at baseline," said Dr. Ranade. "So, Malaria is not endemic in North America anymore, it was once, but it's endemic in certain parts of the world. Which means, on a daily basis you face the risk or reality that Malaria is around you, and that is where COVID is going, and that is what we need to start readying ourselves for."
The majority of callers to CHOK asked about booster shots, and timelines between contracting COVID-19 and getting a third dose.
Dr. Ranade said two or three doses of a vaccine offers really good durable protection from severe disease, and protection from any kind of symptomatic infection lasts about 10 to 12 weeks.
"If you want your booster shot, you can get it 84 days after your last dose, so as a rough guide it's about three months," he said. "Having said that, if you've had two doses of vaccine and then you actually get COVID, it almost works like a booster. So, I would not be in a rush to boost you because you've basically been exposed and your body has mounted an immune response to COVID itself."
Callers also asked when things might return to "normal" and see an end to capacity limits and masking requirements.
Dr. Ranade mentioned that the U.K. is currently making some policy changes, including recommending masks rather than mandating them.
"And that policy shift signals sort of a move toward normalization," said Dr. Ranade. "I think those kinds of moves are going to be important in the next few months or so to help signal to people that I have the things I need to protect myself. That is to say I have been vaccinated, I'm not going to go anywhere when I'm sick, I'm going to try to not hangout with people who are actively ill, those are the practical things we can do and everything else is starting to look less practical."
To date, 250,000 doses of vaccine have been administered to eligible Sarnia-Lambton residents aged five and up, including over 48,000 third doses.
Since the start of the vaccine rollout in mid December 2020, there have been 73 COVID-related deaths in Lambton County. Dr. Ranade said 66 per cent were unvaccinated, 26 per cent were vaccinated and eight per cent were considered partially vaccinated.
To catch all of Thursday's call-in program, visit www.chok.com.
