Vaccine -- The Canadian Press

By The Canadian Press

Health Canada approves Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children 5 to 11

Nov 19, 2021 | 7:51 AM

OTTAWA, ONT. – Health Canada has approved the first COVID-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11 in Canada.

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.

READ MORE: Alberta expecting arrival of COVID vaccines for children aged 5-11 next week

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

Health Canada said it would only approve the vaccine for children if its analysis showed the benefits outweigh the potential risks.

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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.

(More to come)