The original Moderna COVID-19 vaccine will soon be phased out and replaced with the company’s new bivalent vaccine following ATAGI advice, the Federal Government says.

The modified Spikevax, which was provisionally approved for use in adults by the TGA last month, targets both the ancestral strain of SARS-CoV-2 and the Omicron BA.1 subvariant.

Federal Minister for Health Mark Butler said, once batch testing had been completed, the new vaccine would be rolled out to replenish stock of the original Moderna vaccine.

“This is an important first step in showing how mRNA vaccines can be adapted to different dominant variants and subvariants,” Mr Butler said in a statement.