Health Canada approves first COVID-19 vaccine for kids aged five to 11

OTTAWA – Indoor birthday parties and maskless classrooms could be nearly within reach for kids now that Health Canada has approved the first COVID-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11.

Provinces could begin offering doses as early as next week.

Pfizer and its partner BioNTech submitted a request for approval of a child-sized dose of its mRNA vaccine for COVID-19 on Oct. 18.

After a thorough review of the data, the department has determined the benefits of the vaccine for children between five and 11 years of age outweigh the risks.

The companies say the results of their trials in children show comparable safety and efficacy to those recorded in a previous Pfizer-BioNTech study in people aged 16 to 25.

The vaccine was 90.7 per cent effective at preventing COVID-19 in children and no serious side-effects were identified, according to the regulator.

“Overall this is very good news for adults and children alike,” said Dr. Supriya Sharma, Health Canada’s chief medical adviser, in reference to the growing number of COVID-19 cases among children during the fourth wave of the pandemic.

Pfizer-BioNTech has changed the formulation of the pediatric vaccine slightly, so new vaccines must be delivered to Canada before children can receive a shot.

Canada is expecting an accelerated delivery of 2.9 million child-sized doses, enough for a first dose for every child in the five to 11 age group.

The first shipment is expected to arrive in Canada on Sunday, according to Procurement Minister Filomena Tassi.

All 2.9 million doses arrive by the end of next week.

Provinces are poised and ready to start administrating doses as soon as they have them in hand.

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said he expects parents will greet the news of the vaccine approval with confidence.

“They will feel confident in large part because this is a decision made on the basis of science,” he said at a briefing Friday.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization’s advice is that children who do not have any conditions that would make vaccination risky may receive two doses.

The language is slightly less strong than that for 12 to 16-year-olds, who should receive the vaccine according to NACI.

The recommendation for younger kids will likely be strengthened over time, as more information becomes available, said Dr. Matthew Tunis, NACI executive secretary.

The Public Health Agency of Canada will launch media campaigns soon to encourage parents to get the vaccine for their kids, and will be working closely with pediatricians and other health-care providers, chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam said.