With the Omicron variant almost at its peak, the most frequent safety advice people are given is to get their 3rd dose of the COVID-19 vaccine also known as the booster shot.

Like every other vaccine dose, there’s been a hesitancy in some people to get their third shot even if they’ve already gotten the first 2 doses.

Discover Moose Jaw spoke with Dr. David Torr from the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) on why people might be more hesitant on getting the 3rd shot. He said that many factors can play into why someone might be skeptical in getting the booster, but social media usually plays a big part.

"There’s so (many) different variations of information on social media that you find many times that people are sort of getting confused with what’s the right thing to do… then there are also people who are just tired and again linking into social media, there are people who are just saying just let the omicron get you, it’s a mild infection so don’t worry about it," he says. Other health experts have described that way of thinking as playing Russian roulette with a disease.

Disease experts have also said the hesitancy can come from the rapidly changing public health messages and the ever-mutating virus is leaving people confused, skeptical, and tired.

Torr also states that the booster doses are pretty much the exact same or extremely similar to the first and second vaccine doses. Some experts have experienced people finding distrust in that fact by thinking that the vaccine must not work which Torr says is completely false.

"What we've found so far is that when somebody does get that booster dose, it really increases the immune levels in the body and that means that it increases the protective component of one's system," says Torr.

This isn’t the first virus/infectious disease that needs multiple vaccines. According to the CDC website, 3 vaccines doses are required for adults at risk of polio. The CDC also suggests that children receive 5 doses of DTaP also known as the tetanus shots along with one booster by the time they're 12 years old. It also says that multiple doses are needed for all hepatitis vaccinations.

Right now, 2 doses of the vaccine are needed to be considered fully vaccinated. People must provide proof of their full vaccination to travel by plane or train and go into many public spaces such as restaurants, gyms, social and sporting events, movie theatres, and much more. However, places like Israel have already set requirements for a 3rd vaccine dose in order for someone to receive a vaccine passport. France has put forward the same measures as of January 15th.

Torr says that the question of whether the 3rd dose will become a part of the criteria for full vaccination in Canada has not been announced in any way, therefore it's hard to determine whether or not it will be required in the near future.