COVID-19 boosters start rolling out to some Canadians. Who can get them?
Global News
Updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna targeting the latest variants of the virus are being offered to some high-risk Canadians so far in a phased rollout.
Updated COVID-19 vaccines are starting to roll out to some high-risk Canadians, but others will have to wait a little while longer before these new shots are offered to them.
Last month, Health Canada approved Pfizer and Moderna’s latest COVID-19 vaccines targeting the most recent variants of the virus.
Both shots are approved for everyone aged six months and older.
The new mRNA vaccines from both pharmaceutical companies target the KP.2 subvariant of Omicron that was dominating COVID-19 spread earlier this year.
While additional offshoots, particularly KP.3.1.1, now are spreading in Canada, they’re closely enough related that the vaccines promise cross-protection.
As of Sept. 27, Moderna’s updated Spikevax shot was available for those six months of age and above, while Pfizer-BioNTech’s updated Comirnaty was available for those 12 years of age and older, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
In Ontario, the new vaccines are only being distributed to high-risk and priority populations through public health units, participating pharmacies and participating health care providers, according to the province’s health ministry.
“The updated COVID-19 vaccine will be available for all eligible individuals 6 months of age and older starting October 28, 2024,” Ontario’s Ministry of Health told Global News in an emailed statement on Friday.
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"I was yelling at them saying get the F** away it’s a wild animal," resident Josh Merrin told Global News. "Sorry about my language."
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Dr. Anna Wolak, a family physician in Vancouver, said many parents are likely having flashbacks to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite this flu being a single case.
WHO acknowledged that testing for mpox is still not widespread, making it difficult to understand how exactly the virus is spreading.
H5 bird flu is widespread in wild birds worldwide and is causing outbreaks in poultry and U.S. dairy cows, with several recent human cases in U.S. dairy and poultry workers.