Health Canada will announce tomorrow that the bivalent vaccine adapted to the Omicron variant will be licensed and available to the population.
The manufacturer Moderna submitted an application for approval to the federal agency in June for this vaccine.
Canada has already ordered 12 million doses of this vaccine, which attacks both the original strain of the virus and the Omicron variant.
Pfizer also submitted a bid for its bivalent vaccine version in late July.
Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos is due to address Canadians tomorrow to “underline the importance of vaccination once morest COVID-19 before the arrival of fall”, we were told. announced in a press release on Wednesday.
The authorization of this vaccine had been awaited for some time. It is a source of hope for preventing the spread of the virus, especially as autumn approaches and with the start of the school year in full swing.
“When the new vaccine arrives, we will change the current vaccine for the new one. We will not sell the stocks of the current vaccine, which is very effective in preventing complications, ”explained Dr. Luc Boileau, national director of public health for Quebec.
«[L’ancien] vaccine is not as effective [avec Omicron] it will have been with other variants to prevent infection, but it is very effective in preventing complications. If we do not want to find ourselves in contexts of serious complications with hospitalizations, we must take advantage of it, ”continued Dr. Boileau.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday gave the green light to vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer simultaneously.
– with the collaboration of Raymond Filion