The turn of the weather in Ontario could mean a new type of vaccine in the fall, in the fight against COVID-19.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore told reporters last week that the bivalent vaccine will be effective against two or more variants of the virus.
“We’re getting clarity though on what that Omicron variant will be,” Dr. Kieran Moore said. “As you may have heard, the (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) is requesting a BA 4 and BA 5 variant be a component of the bivalent (vaccine), and we know that manufacturers have already created a BA 1 bivalent vaccine.”
Dr. Moore added that the exact timing for the new vaccine still isn’t known, but it could be available by November or December.
Vaccines that are currently available are monovalent, which means that they are tailored solely to the original novel coronavirus.
“It has the original COVID-19 virus component, that spike protein, but also an Omicron version of that,” noted Thunder Bay’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janet DeMille. “(I’m looking forward) to examining the data about the benefits of the bivalent (vaccine) over and above perhaps the current vaccines that we are using.”
Moderna Canada submitted its bivalent booster candidate to Health Canada on June 30 for regulatory approval.
Pfizer Canada also has plans to seek approval for another COVID-19 vaccine.
