Health Canada has approved Pfizer-BioNTech’s updated COVID-19 Comirnaty vaccine that targets Omicron’s BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants and is approved for use as a booster dose for people under the age of 12 and beyond.
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It is the second bivalent vaccine authorized in the country, an effective vaccine both against the initial strain of COVID-19 and against one of its variants, in this case the Omicron.
The first bivalent vaccine, produced by Moderna, instead attacked the initial strain of the sub-variant Omicron. Pfizer’s vaccine completes the picture by attacking the even more contagious sub-variants Omicron BA.4 and BA.5.
In a press conference, Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos urged Canadians to receive their booster dose and to “recharge their immune systems” if their last injection or infection with the virus is more than six month ago.
“The two bivalent vaccines now approved in Canada […] both offer an excellent immune response and confer greater protection against the Omicron variant, “he said.
“Health Canada licensed this vaccine following a thorough and independent scientific review of the evidence, which demonstrated the safety and efficacy of this vaccine,” Health Canada said in a statement Friday.
Remember that Moderna’s bivalent vaccine has been available in Quebec since last month for protection against these same two variants.
