Health officials are expected to make an announcement on the ongoing fight against COVID-19 today as provincial health systems eagerly await the approval of a vaccine that targets the Omicron variant of the virus.
CTV news has learned from a senior government source that Health Canada is expected to announce the authorization of Moderna's Omicron-targeting bivalent COVID-19 vaccine.
Moderna submitted its booster to Health Canada for regulatory approval on June 30th, with aims to have it available this fall.
Vaccines currently available in Canada target only the original strain of COVID-19.
The new shots under review by Health Canada, called bivalent vaccines, are designed to recognize specific mutations in the spike protein of the Omicron BA.1 subvariant.
The United Kingdom approved Moderna's bivalent vaccine two weeks ago, and the United States Food and Drug Administration gave Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech's Omicron-fighting shots the green light earlier this week.
Canada has already purchased 12 million doses of Moderna's version of the Omicron vaccine, which includes converting some existing orders for the original Moderna vaccine so that the newly-adapted version will be delivered instead.
Health officials have organized a technical briefing this morning, and Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos is expected to speak to the importance of getting a booster shot this afternoon.