Canada OKs Pfizer’s bivalent booster targeting Omicron subvariants
Canada now has another weapon in its arsenal to fight COVID-19: Pfizer’s bivalent booster.
Health Canada announced Friday it has approved the updated shot, which has been designed to target Omicron’s BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants that are the dominant strains circulating in the nation at the moment.
It has been approved as a booster shot for Canadians ages 12 and older, and to be given at least three to six months following either the required two doses for full vaccination, or a booster shot. It is to be given in a 30 microgram dose.
The booster shot is the second bivalent vaccine to get federal approval after Moderna’s modified booster was authorized for use last month.
Pfizer’s shot also targets the original Omicron strain, Health Canada said in its regulatory approval. It said the BA.4 and BA.5 shot was authorized based on safety data obtained in clinical studies involving Pfizer’s first COVID-19 vaccine and original Omicron booster. Health Canada found the shot to provide “significantly higher responses” to the original Omicron virus when compared to Pfizer’s first vaccine. It is expected to have mostly mild side effects.
Vaccine effectiveness has taken a hit as the virus has evolved, and vaccine makers have had to work on creating new shots in an effort to boost protection levels. A bivalent vaccine is designed to target two different variants of the same virus.
Now that Canada has two bivalent vaccines on the market, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) is “strongly recommending” bivalent vaccines be given as booster doses this fall.
In its own statement on Friday, NACI is strongly recommending Canadians 65 years of age and older, and individuals 12 years of age and older who are at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19, be offered a fall COVID-19 vaccine booster dose regardless of the number of booster doses previously received.
All other individuals 12 to 64 years of age may be offered a fall COVID-19 vaccine booster dose, regardless of the number of booster doses previously received. However, Canadians 12 years of age and older who are not able or willing to receive a bivalent mRNA vaccine may be offered an original mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.
NACI added fall booster doses may be offered six months after a previous vaccine dose or six months after infection. A shorter interval of at least three months may be considered depending on heightened epidemiological risk, evolving epidemiology and “operational considerations for the efficient deployment of fall immunization programs.”
The Public Health Canada Agency of Canada (PHAC) will discuss the approval later on Friday. Starting with a briefing at 11 a.m. ET and followed by an announcement at 12:30 p.m. ET, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, will highlight the importance of the vaccine alongside other Canadian government health officials, according to a release.
Provinces and territories are currently rolling out bivalent booster shots designed to target more transmissible strains of COVID-19, including the dominant Omicron subvariants.
In August, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized both updated COVID-19 booster shots. Regulators in the European Union and Japan have also approved Pfizer’s updated booster jab.
Last week, travel restrictions tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, including mask mandates, came to an end in Canada as the last remaining border measure officially ceased to be in effect. Travellers to Canada are no longer required to show proof of vaccination.
As of Oct. 1, there were 4,945 people hospitalized in Canada with COVID-19, with 298 in the ICU.
by Global News
