Health Canada authorizes Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for Omicron subvariants – October 7, 2022

At a technical briefing in Ottawa, federal health officials discuss Health Canada's authorization of Pfizer's bivalent COVID-19 vaccine, which targets the original SARS-CoV-2 virus as well as the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants. The vaccine is authorized as a booster dose for individuals 12 years of age and older and is the second bivalent COVID-19 vaccine after Moderna's to be approved in Canada. Taking part in the briefing are Dr. Supriya Sharma, chief medical adviser with Health Canada, Dr. Howard Njoo, Canada's deputy chief public health officer, and Dr. Matthew Tunis, executive secretary to the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI).