Asian Tribune Your Multilingual Newspaper covering World and local news News
Health Canada has approved Pfizer’s new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine, which targets the virus strains now most common in Canada.
The updated version of the Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine targets the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, as well as the original strain of the virus, and is authorized for use as a booster dose in individuals 12 years of age and older.
“The booster is expected to trigger a strong immune response against both the original SARS-CoV-2 strain as well as the Omicron BA.4/BA.5 subvariants,” Health Canada said in a statement.
“It is expected to have a similar safety profile to the original Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty vaccine, with mostly mild side effects,” it said.
Health Canada said it has placed terms and conditions on the authorization of the new vaccine, including a requirement that Pfizer-BioNTech provide information to Health Canada on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine on an ongoing basis to ensure its benefits continue to outweigh the risks.
It is the second combination vaccine approved by Health Canada’s vaccine review team, but the first that targets BA.4 and BA.5.
Last month, Health Canada approved use of Moderna’s bivalent COVID-19 vaccine, branded Spikevax, which targets the original virus and the first Omicron variant, BA.1.
More to come.
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos makes an announcement regarding Pfizer’s bivalent COVID-19 vaccine.