UPDATE (Oct. 10th, 4:58 p.m.): Government officials delivered remarks on the approval of the new Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent COVID-19 vaccine during a press conference earlier today.
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says that the new vaccines will help protect people from developing long COVID over the winter months.
"I am concerned... From what I'm hearing from the experts, [they] are telling us... that the coming months, the coming weeks will be critical when it comes to COVID-19 infection and all the consequences this can have for people and health-care workers who are already quite tired," Minister Duclos adds.
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, urges Canadians to get the new shot in order for them to be sufficiently protected from infection and severe illness when spending more time indoors over the winter months.
"Hospital trends are still elevated, although critical-care trends and death remain at a low level," Dr. Tam adds.
Dr. Howard Njoo, Canada's deputy chief public health officer, says that he's confident there will be enough of both the Moderna vaccine and the newly-authorized Pfizer vaccine to meet the demand for fall boosters.
"If we talk about the Moderna B1 vaccine, there are 10.5 million doses in the country now... If we are talking about the new Pfizer vaccine, we're expecting next week to have delivery of doses. We have a contract for some 12.6 million doses… and between the two I think it's enough in the meantime to cover the expected demand for booster doses," Dr. Njoo adds.
Health Canada officials say that anyone who has not received a booster dose for six months should get this new shot as soon as they can and that people who have not had a shot for three months should also consider getting the shot.
They also say that Canadians who got a booster shot less than three months ago should not get the shot right away, since it will not be as effective as it would have been if they had waited.
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Health Canada has authorized Pfizer's bivalent vaccine, which specifically targets the Omicron variant as well as its BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, for use in individuals aged 12 and up.
They had previously authorized Moderna’s bivalent COVID-19 booster.
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos and Health Canada officials are scheduled to discuss the approval in detail later today.
Updated guidance on COVID-19 vaccine booster doses can be found here.
