Health Canada approves updated Pfizer, Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for fall

Advertisement

Advertise with us

TORONTO - Health Canada has authorized updated COVID-19 vaccines by Pfizer and BioNTech and by Moderna for use this respiratory virus season.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/08/2025 (381 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO – Health Canada has authorized updated COVID-19 vaccines by Pfizer and BioNTech and by Moderna for use this respiratory virus season.

Moderna says it will manufacture vaccine doses for the Canadian market in its new facility in Laval, Quebec and syringes will be filled in Cambridge, Ontario.

News releases from both Pfizer and Moderna say the new mRNA shots will target the LP.8.1 variant, a descendant of Omicron that the World Health Organization was monitoring earlier this year.

A person gets the COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, April 30, 2021, in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
A person gets the COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, April 30, 2021, in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Both Pfizer’s vaccine — called Comirnaty — and Moderna’s shot — called Spikevax — are approved for adults and children six months of age and older.

The provinces and territories are responsible for ordering COVID-19 vaccines and deciding who will get them free of charge.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommends seniors, residents of long-term care homes, people who are immunocompromised, health-care workers and people at risk of severe COVID-19 illness get vaccinated.

It recommends two doses of the vaccine per year for people 80 years of age and older, long-term care residents and people six months of age and older who are moderately to severely immunocompromised.

The advisory committee recommends one shot per year for people between 65 and 79 years of age, health-care workers and people at risk of getting severely ill from COVID-19.

NACI says those considered at higher risk include those with underlying medical conditions; people who are pregnant, people from First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities; and members of racialized communities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 22, 2025.

Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

Health Canada approves updated Pfizer, Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for fall

Nicole Ireland, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

Health Canada approves updated Pfizer, Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for fall

Nicole Ireland, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Friday, Aug. 22, 2025

TORONTO - Health Canada has authorized updated COVID-19 vaccines by Pfizer and BioNTech and by Moderna for use this respiratory virus season.

Moderna says it will manufacture vaccine doses for the Canadian market in its new facility in Laval, Quebec and syringes will be filled in Cambridge, Ontario.

News releases from both Pfizer and Moderna say the new mRNA shots will target the LP.8.1 variant, a descendant of Omicron that the World Health Organization was monitoring earlier this year.

Both Pfizer's vaccine — called Comirnaty — and Moderna's shot — called Spikevax — are approved for adults and children six months of age and older.

Read
Friday, Aug. 22, 2025

$8.7-million detox centre called ‘high-priced drunk tank’

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Preview

$8.7-million detox centre called ‘high-priced drunk tank’

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Friday, Sep. 4, 2026

The new facility to detain people in a drug psychosis for up to 72 hours is operating the way it should, the government said Friday, even though just 26 people have been held for that purpose since it opened.

“The (protective care centre) is doing what it’s meant to do: support people, meet them where they’re at, provide a caring environment,” Addictions Minister Bernadette Smith said after updated data were posted online.

The vast majority of those detained at the 20-room facility at 190 Disraeli Fwy. were recovering from alcohol intoxication, the update shows.

In total, 4,425 people were detained from the time the site opened on Dec. 2, 2025, until June 30, for an average of less than five hours.

Read
Friday, Sep. 4, 2026

A life's story: translator, poet, radio host, actor loved life to the fullest

Tiago Resko 7 minute read Preview

A life's story: translator, poet, radio host, actor loved life to the fullest

Tiago Resko 7 minute read Saturday, Sep. 5, 2026

Born with an innate sense of curiosity, Charles Leblanc always wanted to understand the world around him. To him, words and theatre weren’t just pastimes. They were means of understanding the human experience and helping others see different perspectives.

The poet, translator, actor and radio host dedicated his life to this practice, founding the Winnipeg International Writers’ Festival, establishing French community radio station Envol — where he hosted a show for 25 years — and acting as a core member of the Association of Translators, Terminologists and Interpreters of Manitoba.

Leblanc’s contributions and dedication to Manitoba’s arts and literary scenes made an impact that continues to be felt by the community.

He died June 26 at the age of 75.

Read
Saturday, Sep. 5, 2026

‘It’s childish’: Americans in Canada react to Trump’s renaming of Lake Ontario

Sharif Hassan, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

‘It’s childish’: Americans in Canada react to Trump’s renaming of Lake Ontario

Sharif Hassan, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 10:39 AM CDT

If you’re angered by U.S. President Donald Trump's renaming of Lake Ontario to “Lake America,” chances are that an American living in your neighbourhood might be just as outraged — if not more.

Many Americans who've made Canada their home are calling it an embarrassing, even "childish," stunt.

Ben Davis, a retired law professor, said Trump’s executive order to change the lake’s name is "so beneath the office of the United States president."

"And obviously it's another one of his distractions of the day, but it's just pitiful,” Davis said.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 10:39 AM CDT

Wonderful wines to help welcome autumn

Ben Sigurdson 4 minute read Preview

Wonderful wines to help welcome autumn

Ben Sigurdson 4 minute read Saturday, Sep. 5, 2026

As we creep ever closer to fall, many wine drinkers will start to think about popping corks (or screwcaps, as it were) on wines that suit cooler temperatures.

But summer’s not quite done yet. Here are six new and/or notable wines ideal for sipping as we make the transition from warmer weather into the first hints of autumn…

Wines of the weekThe Willm NV Blanc de Noirs Crémant d’Alsace Brut (Alsace, France — $28.99, Liquor Marts and beyond) is a French bubbly made from the Pinot Noir grape in the traditional method (secondary fermentation, which creates the bubbles, happens in the bottle rather than in tanks before bottling).

It’s pale gold with a hint of pink, and on the nose offers ripe cherry, cranberry, bread dough and strawberry compote notes. On the palate it’s light-bodied and mainly dry, with an almost-wild herbal component coming with the strawberry, tart peach, cranberry, raspberry and bread dough flavours.

Read
Saturday, Sep. 5, 2026

Politicians who harp on Klein’s history with Nygard do so at their own peril

Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Preview

Politicians who harp on Klein’s history with Nygard do so at their own peril

Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Friday, Sep. 4, 2026

It was probably the easiest prediction to make in Winnipeg politics this week: the moment Kevin Klein officially entered the mayoral race, someone would bring up Peter Nygard.

Sure enough, they did.

And it was led by Klein’s chief political opponent in this race, Mayor Scott Gillingham, who called Klein a “fixer” for the convicted sex offender.

None of this is particularly surprising.

Read
Friday, Sep. 4, 2026