All pre- and post-transplant patients are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and get vaccine boosters as they become available.
A complete primary vaccine series for solid organ transplant recipients involves three doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Three doses of vaccine offer better protection for people who are immunocompromised. A three-dose series is safe and recommended for transplant recipients who have never been vaccinated. If you were vaccinated before your transplant, you may have only received two doses and that is acceptable.
Transplant recipients (5 years and up) may have also received a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine approximately six months after the third dose of the primary vaccine series and a 2022 fall booster at this point.
Starting in the spring of 2023, additional boosters are becoming available for those who are at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19. Transplant recipients 18 years of age and older are strongly encouraged to get the booster when notified. This may be your sixth dose. The preferred booster continues to be the bivalent vaccine.
If you are registered in the provincial system, you will receive a notice 6 months after your last vaccine dose.
If you recently had COVID-19, you should wait at least six months to get your booster.