Provincial officials say shipments of Pfizer's new COVID-19 vaccine targeting the Omicron variant are expected in British Columbia soon, after Health Canada approved the shot.

A joint statement from B.C.'s provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, and Health Minister Adrian Dix, says the Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent vaccine will be available to people aged 12 and older from next week.

They say B.C. is set to receive 1.7 million doses of the newly approved shot, which will be available in health authority clinics and pharmacies across the province.

Approved last month, Moderna's equivalent bivalent shot is already available to those aged 18 and older, with B.C. set to receive 1.4 million of 10.5 million doses in Canada.

The health officials say both bivalent vaccines induce a ``stronger, more robust immune response and provide better protection against the Omicron variant and subvariants.''

They say their recommendation that people get either bivalent vaccine as their fall COVID-19 booster is in line with that of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization.