OTTAWA – Health Canada has cleared an updated version of Moderna’s COVID-19 booster vaccine.
The new bivalent injection targets the Omicron BA.4/BA.5 subvariants and is intended to be used as a booster dose for individuals over 18 years of age.
This comes two months after Health Canada authorized a bivalent booster from Moderna targeting the Omicron BA.1 subvariant and the original strain.
Health Canada says a bivalent booster elicits a “robust immune response” against the two newer sub-variants of Omicron as well as the original SARS-CoV-2 virus strains.
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization says Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 are the dominant strains in circulation.
These include several key mutations from the original SARS-CoV-2 virus, leading NACI to strongly recommend bivalent boosters targeting Omicron.
On October 7, Health Canada approved Pfizer-BioNTech’s bivalent booster for people 12 years and older. It also targets the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on November 3, 2022.
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