By Adriano Marchese

Canada's health regulator on Friday said it authorized a second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine that targets two Omicron subvariants of Covid-19.

Health Canada said the booster vaccine targets Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants and it has authorized shots for individuals 12 years of age or older.

The regulator said that the authorization follows a thorough and independent scientific review of the evidence and determined that it is safe and effective, with similar safety profile as its original Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty vaccine.

Pfizer-BioNTech is still required to continue to provide information to Health Canada on the safety and efficacy of the bivalent vaccine, the regulator said.

Health Canada said that the continuous flow of data and studies ensures that the benefits of the vaccine continue to outweigh the risks.

Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 07, 2022 13:08 ET (17:08 GMT)

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