Moderna’s vaccine capable of protecting Canadians against the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant of COVID-19 has just been approved for people over six months of age by Health Canada, which also recommends it for anyone whose the last dose was more than six months ago.
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At a press briefing on Tuesday and wearing a mask, the director of the Office of Medical Sciences at Health Canada, Dr. Marc Berthiaume encouraged the public to get the new vaccine considering that “vaccine protection diminishes over time.”
He took advantage of his speech to warn against “false information” and “exaggerated information” surrounding vaccination.
“We know that there are many sources of information on the subject, some of which circulate false and exaggerated information. We invite people to carefully evaluate the credibility of their sources of information,” launched Dr. Berthiaume.
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s deputy chief public health officer, said that after a respite, the rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations has recently started to pick up, and the trend could continue through the fall and winter.
“Safety and effectiveness in children under 6 months have not yet been demonstrated,” hence its non-authorization for this age group at this stage, informed Health Canada.
The Quebec government will move forward with a COVID vaccination campaign starting in the fall.
Health Canada is also actively examining Pfizer-BioNTech’s registration application for its COVID-19 vaccine, which also targets Omicron’s XBB.1.5 sub-variant for people six months and older.
In addition, Health Canada has received an application for approval from Novavax for its vaccine which targets the same Omicron sub-variant, for people aged 12 and over.