Health Canada authorizes COVID-19 vaccine booster targeting Omicron subvariants

OTTAWA, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Health Canada authorized on Friday a second bivalent COVID-19 vaccine booster targeting the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants.

Authorized for use as a booster dose in individuals 12 years of age and older, it is an updated version of the Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine, Health Canada said.

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, adding that it is expected to have a similar safety profile to the original Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty vaccine, with mostly mild side effects.

According to Health Canada, all mRNA COVID-19 vaccines authorized for use in Canada continue to be very effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19.

Health Canada has placed terms and conditions on the authorization, requiring Pfizer-BioNTech to continue providing information to Health Canada on the safety and efficacy of the BA.4/BA.5 bivalent vaccine to detect any potential new safety signals.