Health Canada authorizes Pfizer’s BA.4/BA.5 Omicron vaccine

Health Canada says Canadians aged 12 and over are now able to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 booster vaccine that targets the BA.4 and BA.5 strains of the Omicron variant.

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos and Health Canada officials are expected to provide more information about the approval at 12:30 p.m.

The authorization says the vaccine can be given three to six months after a second dose of the primary vaccine series, or the most recent booster shot.

It is the second combination vaccine approved by Health Canada, but the first that targets the virus strains that are now most common in the country.

The Moderna combination shot approved five weeks ago targets the original virus and the first Omicron variant, while the Pfizer shot authorized today targets the BA.4 and BA.5 strains.

Health Canada says 88 per cent of the COVID-19 cases confirmed in mid-September were BA.5 and nine per cent were BA.4.