The Japan unit of Moderna Inc. said Wednesday it has asked the country's health ministry to approve its updated coronavirus vaccine tailored to the now-prevalent BA.5 subvariant. The U.S. pharmaceutical giant's application for the bivalent vaccine, which works against the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 and earlier strains, follows U.S. rival Pfizer Inc.'s request for the ministry to green-light similar vaccines last month. In an effort to stem the ongoing seventh wave of COVID-19 infections powered mostly by the BA.5 subvariant, Japan started giving Omicron booster shots made by Moderna and...
