Moderna's updated COVID-19 vaccine for 2024-25 approved in Canada

Health Canada authorized Moderna's updated COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday to roll out in fall immunization campaigns.

The federal vaccine portal lists approvalof Moderna's product.

Provinces and territories planfall immunization campaigns aiming toprotect people from severe hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19.

Guidance from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization(NACI) strongly recommends updated COVID-19vaccinations starting this fall for high-risk groups:

• All adults 65 and older.
• People living in long-term care and other groupsettings.
• People with underlying medical conditions that put them at higher risk of severe illness.
• Individuals in or from First Nations, Mtis and Inuit communities.
• Members of racialized and other equity-deserving communities.
• Those who are pregnant.
• People who provide essential community services.

All other individuals aged six months and oldermay receive the vaccine, NACIrecommended.

A spokesperson for Modernasaid it will start delivering the product to thePublic Health Agency of Canada in the next day or two and expects "arobust supply will be available in time for provincial and territorial vaccination campaigns, but specific timing depends on provinces."

Dr.FahadRazak, an internist atSt. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, said fresh vaccines are recommended, asthe virus that causes COVID-19 continues to mutate or change in order to dodge being recognized by our immune system and to bind better for entering human cells.

Omicron offshoots circulating

Moderna saidthe vaccine targets the KP.2 variant, one of the latest offshoots of Omicron.Based on Canadian viral sequencing data,KP variants continue to dominate.

The Omicron variant of concern set off a massive wave of infections worldwide starting in November 2021.

Currently, thenumber of PCR tests coming back positive for the virus that causes COVID-19at hospitals stands at 18 per cent nationally, compared with four per cent in April, when a comparable number of tests were performed,Razak said.

"What little wastewater that's [tested]now in the country is showing high levels of transmission, so we're in a wave," Razak said. "But we're not seeing a high number of people in hospital."

Why updated vaccines needed

Wastewater testing offers an early indicator of when respiratory viruses are on the rise, doctors and epidemiologists say.

"We clearly know now that the waves of these COVID infections, at least for the foreseeable future, will continue to occur," Razak said. "That will require rapid updated vaccines." He applauded Health Canada for shortening the window on approving the vaccine.

A spokesperson for Health Canada said on Tuesday the department anticipates issuing a decision about the updated Pfizer and Novavax COVID-19 vaccines over the next few weeks.

"For me, most important clinically is that we continue to have protection against severe disease," Razak said.

Since many people in high-risk groups did not get vaccinated in the spring, that can leavethem susceptible over time to end up in hospital, he said.

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Early research suggests a concerning percentage of recovered COVID-19 patients have been left with a chronic respiratory condition called pulmonary fibrosis.

Reducing infections whenever possible also matters given the long-term consequences infections can have on health. Razak suggested vaccinations to prevent severe illness andimproving indoor air quality, as well as taking steps not to exposeothers when you're sick to prevent infections in general.

In August, the federal government sent a notice to health professionals saying the previous COVID-19 vaccines targeting an earlier variant would no longer be available.

Health Canada said the decision was "part of regulatory and supply management best practices, consistent with the approach to annual influenza vaccines."