Quebec rolling out new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine against Omicron

Moderna's new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine against Omicron variant BA.1 will become available as of noon Thursday, Quebec's public health director announced.

Quebec already has 800,000 doses of the vaccine, Dr. Luc Boileau sharedat a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

"We do not expect that there will be a lack of availability for our population," he said.

Those who had their last vaccine dose more than five months ago and those infected with the virus more than three months agowill be eligible to get a dose.

Children over fiveand teens as old as 17 will be also be able to get the new vaccine if they're at a higher risk of COVID-19 complications and their physician recommends it.

Health Canada formally approvedModerna'supdated COVID-19 vaccine last week for people age18 and older.

The vaccine is the first in Canada to target both the original virus and the Omicron variant BA.1 that emerged late last year and drove the largest wave of infection and hospitalization among Canadians in the pandemic.

Currently 85 per cent of all Quebecers have received at least their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to public health data.

Trying to avoid twindemic of flu, COVID

The flu vaccine willalso become availablethis October, instead ofits usual roll out in early November. It's being done in the hope of avoiding a resurgenceof flu and COVID-19 outbreaks that could threaten to overwhelmhospitals,Boileau said.

International experts have warned of a so-called twindemicwith flu season threatening to be very difficult.

Boileausaid thereare still roughly 3,400 health-care workers off the job right now because they needto isolate.Hospitalizations continue to trend downward, he said, and the hope is it will stay that way.

"We're taking all the care that's needed to be well prepared for that," Boileau said. "We expect it to be something that will ease the capacity of the hospitals."

Studies have shown that the bivalent vaccine is 1.6 times more effective than former vaccines in its protection against the BA.1 variant, saidDr. Caroline Quach-Thanh, who sits on Quebec's vaccine committee and spoke alongside Boileau.

Those studies also showed some degree of protection against other Omicron variants, she said.

"Right now it's impossible to say what its effectiveness is in terms of percentage points, we have to do more studies on the ground first,"Quach-Thanhsaid.

While the new shot doesn't directly target dominant Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, which theU.S. approved an updated shotfor this week, Pfizer has submittedan application for Health Canada approval for its BA.4-5 vaccine Friday. Moderna is expected to soon.

With some hoping to wait for that newer vaccine, Quach-Tran urged caution.

"Everybody needs to assess their own risk level. If you're in great health, or have had COVID before, you can probably choose to wait. But if you're over 80 and nearing your fifth month since your last dose, I would urge you not to."

The bivalent vaccine poses a higher riskof myocarditis inflammation of the heart muscle for those under 30 than Pfizerdoes, and for that reason will be prioritizedfor older adults. Younger Quebecers can still request to receive it however,Quach-Thanhsaid.

The stock of bivalent vaccines will also gradually replace the stock of past vaccines likePfizer, Boileausaid. He added that's notbecause the original shot doesn't do its job in preventing severe infection.

Boileaualso reminded Quebecers to continue taking measures to reduce the spread of the viruslike wearing masks or opting to gather outdoorseven if they're up to date on their boosters.

"Take advantage of the nice weather because the chances of getting infected with COVID-19is much lower outdoors," he said.

Vaccine for Omicron variant approved by Health Canada

2 years ago

Duration 2:51

Health Canada has approved a new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna, which targets the Omicron variant. It's the first vaccine of its type in Canada, but officials say another batch of booster shots, specifically targeting Omicron's BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, could arrive later this fall.