Health Canada has authorized updated COVID-19 vaccines by Pfizer and BioNTech and by Moderna for use this respiratory virus season.
Moderna says it will manufacture vaccine doses for the Canadian market in its new facility in Laval, Quebec and syringes will be filled in Cambridge, Ontario.
News releases from both Pfizer and Moderna say the new mRNA shots will target the LP.8.1 variant, a descendant of Omicron that the World Health Organization was monitoring earlier this year.
Both Pfizer's vaccine — called Comirnaty — and Moderna's shot — called Spikevax — are approved for adults and children six months of age and older.
The provinces and territories are responsible for ordering COVID-19 vaccines and deciding who will get them free of charge.
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommends seniors, residents of long-term care homes, people who are immunocompromised, health-care workers and people at risk of severe COVID-19 illness get vaccinated.
It recommends two doses of the vaccine per year for people 80 years of age and older, long-term care residents and people six months of age and older who are moderately to severely immunocompromised.
The advisory committee recommends one shot per year for people between 65 and 79 years of age, health-care workers and people at risk of getting severely ill from COVID-19.
NACI says those considered at higher risk include those with underlying medical conditions; people who are pregnant, people from First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities; and members of racialized communities.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
