Ottawa Public Health urging older adults to get RSV vaccines

Ottawa’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Trevor Arnason shares what older adults need to know about RSV.

Ottawa Public Health’s Medical Officer of Health is urging high-risk populations to get their RSV vaccinations ahead of respiratory illness season.

“Classically, doctors think about it as a childhood disease, like little babies getting really sick with RSV, but what we’ve learned over the past few years is that older adults can get really sick with RSV,” Dr. Trevor Arnason told CTV News at Six on Thursday.

According to Arnason for most people, RSV symptoms would be comparable to a common cold, including cough, runny nose and a sore throat; however, adults who are 75 years old and above are at a higher risk of experiencing more serious effects.

This year, adults aged 75 and older, as well as other high-risk populations over the age of 60, are eligible to receive their RSV vaccinations for free in Ontario.

“The things I mentioned around risk factors are important, but this campaign is people who are 75 years and older across the province are now eligible for the vaccine regardless of any medical conditions they might have, and that’s new this year and that’s why we’re getting that message out,” Arnason says.

Arnason says vaccines are already being administered by primary care providers, including family doctors and nurse practitioners.

For those who are currently without a primary care provider, Ottawa Public Health will help facilitate vaccinations.

“We recognize that many people don’t have access to a family doctor or nurse practitioner right now,” says Arnason. “In that case we encourage people to go to our website.”

For more information, visit ottawapublichealth.ca/rsv.

Who can receive an RSV vaccines?

Anyone 75 years of age and older is eligible to receive an RSV vaccine.

According to Ottawa Public Health, the RSV vaccine is also available for individuals who are 60-74 years of age and who are also:

• Residents of long-term care homes, Elder Care Lodges, or retirement homes;
• Patients in hospital receiving alternate level of care;
• Patients receiving hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis;
• Recipients of solid organ or hematopoietic stem cell transplants;
• Individuals experiencing homelessness;
• Individuals who identify as First Nations, Inuit or Métis; and
• Patients with glomerulonephritis who are moderately to severely immunocompromised.

Infants and high-risk young children are also eligible to receive RSV vaccines.

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