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The latest formulation of the COVID-19 vaccine has been approved by Health Canada. (Image from Getty Images)
The latest COVID-19 vaccines are expected to arrive in Canada just in time for fall. Health Canada on Tuesday announced it has approved Moderna's latest coronavirus vaccine, which has been reformulated to target circulating variants like KP.2. The updated formula will be made available to Canadians as part of the fall-winter immunization campaign.
Public Health Agency of Canada spokeswoman Anna Maddison said in an email to CTV News that the new vaccine is expected to arrive “within the next few days.”
“Health Canada is expected to make decisions regarding the Novavax and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines in the coming weeks,” Maddison said.
Are coronavirus cases increasing in Canada?
The latest vaccine approval comes as Health Canada reports that “most COVID-19 infection indicators remain stable at higher levels than in the spring.” Trends vary by state and territory, but the outbreak has been “slowly increasing” since the spring. As of September 17, COVID-19 activity levels in Ontario and Quebec are reported as “high.”
What new coronavirus strains are expected to be prevalent this fall?
Currently, the KP.3 and KP.3.1.1 FLiRT variants, which are derivatives of KP.1 and KP.2, are the most prevalent in Canada and the United States. As of September 8, 67.5 per cent of COVID-19 cases in Canada were caused by the KP.3.1.1 subvariant.
Experts believe new variants related to KP.3 will continue to emerge, but other variants like XEC are also circulating in countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom, and Denmark. Unlike KP.3, XEC emerged from an earlier Omicron variant. In an interview with Yahoo Life, Dr. Davey Smith, a virologist at the University of California, San Diego, said that XEC is poised to become the latest variant to replace the new coronavirus and possibly become the “virus that causes the winter wave.” He said there was.
How does the new vaccine formulation differ from the old one?
Previously, Canada only had access to the vaccine formulation, approved in fall 2023, targeting Omicron XBB.1.5. Spikevax, the latest formulation of Moderna's mRNA vaccine, targets the KP.2 variant.
Will the new vaccine formulation protect me from the new coronavirus strain?
A new coronavirus vaccine is arriving in Canada. (Image from Getty Images)
Many Canadians are wondering whether the new vaccines prescribed to protect against KP.2 will also protect against new variants such as KP.3 and subvariant KP.3.1.1. There may be.
Dr. Donald Vinh, an infectious disease expert at McGill University, told Yahoo Canada that the KP.2 variant and KP.3 (and future subvariants like KP.3.1.1) are specific to the spike protein. He said it's best to think of them as cousins because they share a mutation. .
Bin said existing vaccines formulated to target KP.2 from Moderna and Pfizer (which is still under review in Canada) are effective against the targeted strains. Bin said that as KP.3 and its variants continue to circulate, these vaccines are “likely to impact protection against clinically important disease.”
“But variants are always in flux,” he says. “In other parts of the world, we are hearing about new variants that are less/closely related to KP.2 and KP.3, and it is likely that some of these variants will become dominant over the next three to six months. It would not be surprising if that were the case, and current vaccine formulations may or may not have reduced activity against them.”
KP.3 What are the new coronavirus variants and symptoms?
In a previous interview with Yahoo Canada, infectious disease expert Dr. Isaac Bogogh said the symptoms of the FLiRT variant (including KP.3 and its derivatives) are similar or the same as those of other Omicron variants. said. “It's probably about the same,” he argued, adding that there are unlikely to be any surprises in terms of symptoms.
Symptoms of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue to include:
sore throat
snot
sneeze
cough or cough that gets worse
shortness of breath
difficulty breathing
heat
cold
fatigue
muscle pain or body aches
loss of smell or taste
headache
abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting
Is the new Moderna vaccine the same as a booster shot?
No, Moderna's latest coronavirus vaccine is not the same as a booster shot.
A “booster” shot is an additional dose of a vaccine you have already received. Prior to Health Canada's latest approval, Canadians had the option to receive boosters of previous formulations covering Omicron XBB.1.5.
Moderna's latest formulation is considered a “modern vaccine” that helps build the body's new response to more recent variants.
What are Canada's current vaccination guidelines?
Who should get the latest coronavirus vaccine? (Image from Getty Images)
Back in May, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization issued guidelines strongly recommending that older adults, people with underlying health conditions and other high-risk groups receive coronavirus vaccinations in the fall. This includes people who are pregnant and people living in congregate living settings such as long-term care facilities.
NACI added that people 6 months and older who are not considered high-risk “may receive updated vaccines in fall 2024.” The organization recommends that the interval between new coronavirus vaccinations be “at least three months after the last dose'' and six months between vaccinations.
Will current rapid tests detect new subvariants of the coronavirus?
One of the challenges with emerging strains of coronavirus is detection. Polymer chain reaction (PCR) tests can be used in medical settings to more accurately identify new coronavirus strains. However, rapid antigen tests are different. In a previous interview with Yahoo Canada, Vinh said some rapid tests produced years ago may not be able to detect the latest strain of coronavirus.
“It's possible that a person could take a rapid test and test properly and come back negative with an unexpired test,” he explained. “There are other reasons why a person might test negative, but it's a bit of a hit and miss.”
If these tests are negative, you can transmit the virus to others who are at risk. People are encouraged to wear a mask and practice social distancing if they are not feeling well around vulnerable people.
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