E-Paper
Canada approves use of ‘bivalent’ Covid-19 vaccine
It’s described as ‘essentially two vaccines in one’. Half the contents will target the original Covid-19 strain that emerged from Wuhan in China in 2019, while the other half will target the BA.1 subvariant of the Omicron variant
TORONTO: Canadian health authorities have approved for use the first “bivalent” Covid-19 vaccine in the country.
The approval of the vaccine, manufactured by the American company Moderna, was announced on Thursday by Health Canada. The department’s chief medical adviser Dr Supriya Sharma described it as “essentially two vaccines in one”.
Half the contents will target the original Covid-19 strain that emerged from Wuhan in China in 2019, while the other half will target the BA.1 subvariant of the Omicron variant.
Dr Sharma described the authorisation of the new vaccine as a “milestone in Canada’s response to the pandemic” as this will be first jab that goes beyond targeting just the original coronavirus.
The vaccine has been approved for use in those 18 and above.
A release from Health Canada stated that clinical trial results “showed that a booster dose of the bivalent” vaccine “triggers a strong immune response against both Omicron (BA.1) and the original Sars-CoV-2 virus strain. It was also found to generate a good immune response against the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, and is expected to extend the durability of protection”.
An initial shipment of 780,000 doses is expected to arrive in Canada by Friday, with another 10.5 million to be delivered by the end of September.
Canadian health authorities called for rates of booster vaccinations to rise to prevent difficulties later in the year, as temperatures drop.
Health minister Jean-Yves Duclos told reporters, “This fall will be challenging with the return of the flu and other respiratory diseases, and people moving indoors.”
He pointed out that less than 60% of those eligible to receive their boosters had opted for one and targeted increasing that number to 90%.
As per data from the Public Health Agency of Canada, 82% of the population has completed the full primary series of two shots, while just below half, or 49.55% have received a booster. A much smaller number, 12.36%, have had two additional doses.
