CANADA- Pharmaceutical giant Moderna Inc. (MRNA.O) will provide 12 million doses of its COVID-19 injection to Canada to target the Omicron strain of the coronavirus disease.
According to company officials, the federal government and the corporation had an agreement last year for the supply of the COVID-19 vaccine for the years 2022 and 2023. The arrangement also provided access to additional vaccine adaptations.
Under an agreement between Moderna and Canada, six million doses of the company’s vaccine that combats the original virus will be converted to an Omicron-containing bivalent vaccination.
Additionally, Canada will buy an additional 4.5 million doses of the Omicron-containing vaccine candidate and will deliver 1.5 million doses of the bivalent vaccine candidate earlier than expected, in 2022 rather than in 2023.
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, stated that Health Canada officials are reviewing bivalent vaccination submissions from both Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech “quite quickly.”
A spokesman for Health Canada stated that a conclusion about Moderna’s bivalent vaccine is anticipated within the following two weeks.
Health Canada has also reached out to both Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech to file submissions for vaccines that target Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5
“We also have secure, sufficient supply of the bivalent formulation should the regulatory authorities go on to authorize the vaccines,” Tam said, adding that officials are looking at whether the bivalent vaccine would have an “added benefit.”
Three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, Canadian provinces have begun to release COVID-19 data less frequently.
In response, a group of volunteer experts has been publishing their own analyses of cases, highlighting a significant underreporting of hospitalizations and fatalities related to the Omicron variant in Canada.
According to recent data based on this study, if the rest of the nation reported as Quebec did, projected hospitalizations from Omicron might be 70% greater on average than what has been recorded since December 2, 2021.
Just like hospitalizations and deaths from Omicron, ICU admissions from the variant are underreported.
According to COVID-19 Resources Canada’s study of the data, ICU admissions are probably 29% greater than what is being reported—an estimated 22,200 ICU admissions as opposed to 14,750 recorded ones.
Health Canada has also reached out to both Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech to file submissions for vaccines that target Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.
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