E-Paper
Covid-19 vaccine: Canada reviewing Pfizer jab for children aged 5-11 years
As of now, Covid-19 vaccines approved for emergency use in Canada are only for those aged 12 and above. Health Canada is reviewing Pfizer’s new submission that aims to cover the 5-11 age group
Canada is reviewing the first submission it has received for a pediatric Covid-19 vaccine for use in the country. The request came from Pfizer-BioNTech on Monday, whose new vaccine candidate is meant for children in the age group of aged 5-11 years.
As of now, Covid-19 vaccines approved for emergency use in Canada are for those aged 12 years and above.
Pfizer’s jabs account for the majority of Covid-19 vaccines administered in Canada, at over 46 million doses. However, the doses for children below 12 cannot be drawn from existing stocks, and will have to be a different formulation and delivered in smaller doses.
Health Canada said, “As with all Covid-19 vaccines, the department will prioritise the review of this submission [from Pfizer], while maintaining its high scientific standards for safety, efficacy and quality.”
It said it will authorise use of the Pfizer vaccine’s pediatric version “if the independent and thorough scientific review of all the data included in the submission showed that the benefits of the vaccine outweighed the potential risks in this age group”.
So far, around 82% of the eligible population in Canada has been vaccinated against Covid-19.
Health Canada said this was the first submission it has received that aims to vaccinate the 5-11 age group against Covid-19, and studies of the pediatric jab “are ongoing” in children below five years of age.
Pfizer apart, other pharma companies are also learnt to be testing their Covid-19 vaccines for children of various age groups. Health Canada is expecting to receive more data for review in the coming months.
According to a survey from the agency Angus Reid Institute, 51% of those people sampled in Canada say they will get their children, aged between 5 and 11 years, vaccinated against Covid-19 as soon as a jab is available.
