Story at a glance
- Children in Canada ages 5 to 11 are now eligible to receive Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.
- The regulator said it authorized a two-dose regimen to be administered three weeks apart, adding that trials showed the “vaccine was 90.7% effective at preventing COVID-19 in children 5 to 11 years of age.”
- Data shows around 78 percent of Canada’s total population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
Children in Canada ages 5 to 11 are now eligible to receive Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, Health Canada announced Friday.
“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 said in a statement.
The regulator said it authorized a two-dose regimen prescribed to be administered three weeks apart, adding that trials showed the “vaccine was 90.7% effective at preventing COVID-19 in children 5 to 11 years of age and no serious side effects were identified.”
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Health Canada recommends doses are administered three weeks apart, but Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization suggested stretching the timeline and administering the second dose after eight weeks, The Associated Press reported.
“A longer interval between doses leads to stronger immunity,” said Howard Njoo, the deputy public health officer of Canada, per the AP.
Data shows around 78 percent of Canada’s total population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Approximately 2,755 COVID-19 cases were reported in Canada Nov. 18, bringing the total to more than 1.7 million confirmed cases since the beginning of the pandemic.
The White House said Thursday roughly 10 percent of children ages 5 to 11 in the U.S. have received a vaccine dose since it was authorized two weeks ago, the AP reported. Meanwhile, the Biden administration’s coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients said Wednesday around 2.6 million kids are now partially vaccinated.
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