Albertans 18 and older can make an appointment for the Moderna Spikevax booster starting Wednesday, September 21. Appointments will be available that day, the province said. The bivalent vaccine protects against the Omicron BA.1 variant and the original strain of COVID-19. People who have received a series of vaccinations and it is at least five months since their last dose, booster or most recent infection are eligible. The new vaccine is expected to be available for Albertans aged 12 to 17 in late September or early October. Downloads will be available at participating pharmacies and select Alberta Health Services locations. “It really immunizes you against both strains, and what it’s going to do is bring your immunity a little closer to the strains that are currently in the province,” said Craig Jenne, an infectious disease expert at the University of Calgary. “Not a perfect match, because now we’re dealing with variants of the Omicron, but a much closer match to what’s out here in the province.” Alberta has administered more than nine million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with 82 per cent of eligible people receiving one shot, 77.6 per cent receiving two and 39.3 per cent receiving a booster. With files from Saif Kaisar of CTV News Edmonton
