Health Canada has approved Pfizer-BioNTech’s updated COVID-19 Comirnaty vaccine, which targets Omicron’s BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants and is approved as a booster dose for individuals 12 years of age and older.
• Also read: The consequences of the pandemic in adolescents examined
This is the second bivalent vaccine approved in the country, a vaccine that is effective against both the parent strain of COVID-19 and one of its variants, in this case Omicron.
However, the first bivalent vaccine made by Moderna attacked the original strain of the Omicron subvariant. Pfizer’s vaccine completes the picture by targeting the even more contagious subvariants Omicron BA.4 and BA.5.
In a press conference, Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos urged Canadians to get their booster dose and “recharge their immune systems” if it was more than six months since they last had an injection or were infected with the virus.
“The two bivalent vaccines are now approved in Canada […] both provide an excellent immune response and increased protection against the Omicron variant,” he said.
“Health Canada licensed this vaccine following a thorough and independent scientific review of the evidence that has demonstrated the safety and efficacy of this vaccine,” Health Canada said in a statement Friday.
Keep in mind that Moderna’s bivalent vaccine has been available in Quebec since last month to protect against these two variants.