Health Canada has authorized the first COVID-19 vaccine for children, giving the regulatory green light to Pfizer-BioNTech’s two-dose vaccine.
Children ages five to 11 are now eligible to receive this vaccine, in a smaller dosage than has been offered to those ages 12 and above.
The pediatric doses that will be offered to younger children will be one-third of what has been offered to those ages 12 and above, with Health Canada approving the doses to be given 21 days apart.
“This is the first COVID-19 vaccine authorized in Canada for use in this age group and marks a major milestone in Canada's fight against COVID-19,” said Canada’s regulatory agency in a statement. “After a thorough and independent scientific review of the evidence, the Department has determined that the benefits of this vaccine for children between 5 and 11 years of age outweigh the risks.”
Health Canada had been prioritizing the review of Pfizer’s submission to use its vaccine in those ages five to 11 since Oct. 18, and a similar review is ongoing for Moderna’s two-dose mRNA vaccine for those ages six to 11.
According to Health Canada’s authorization, clinical trials have shown that the Pfizer vaccine was 95 per cent effective in protecting trial participants from COVID-19 for those 16 years and older, 100 per cent effective for those 12 to 15 years old, and 90.7 per cent effective for those five to 11 years old.
Pfizer will be required to continue providing Canada with safety and efficacy information from ongoing studies and real-world usage, with Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada pledging to “closely monitor” the usage of this vaccine, which has been given the brand name of “Comirnaty.”
Officials from Health Canada and the National Advisory Committee on Immunization are expected to outline later Friday morning more about prioritization and the logistics of immunizing this younger age demographic.
Canada's chief medical adviser Dr. Supriya Sharma had been signalling for a few weeks that the authorization was around the corner, and in anticipation provinces and territories have been putting plans in place to administer these doses as soon as supply is ready.
The federal government has procured 2.9 million doses of this vaccine, and has promised that deliveries would land in Canada shorty after regulatory authorization.
The first shipments will be enough to supply the country with a first dose for every eligible Canadian child, according to former procurement minister Anita Anand.
Anand has said that Canada has enough syringes and other supplies necessary to administer the pediatric COVID-19 vaccines, and that delivery of second doses will be “driven by the rapidity of the rollout and administration of first doses.”
with files from CTV News Vancouver