When will Canada start vaccinating children?
Trials are underway, but no drug has yet been approved.
Pfizer has already declared that its vaccine is 100% effective and safe for children 12 years and older. But when will Canada begin large-scale vaccination of children? That's a question both the youngsters themselves and their parents are worried about.
Dr. Supriya Sharma, chief medical advisor for Health Canada, says it's likely that Pfizer will be the first vaccine approved for children and adolescents, if all the trial data are in order. Health Canada has not yet verified whether the information about 100% efficacy is true.
A total of 2,260 adolescents participated in the trial, and cases of COVID-19 infection were found in 18 people who received the placebo. There were no cases among those vaccinated with the real vaccine. The side effects were the same as in the adult population: pain at the injection site, headache, fever and weakness.
According to Dr. Sharma, in the next couple of weeks, Health Canada will be reviewing the results of the trials. It could take several months to get test data on children under 12 years of age. Regulatory agencies must assess the vaccine's effectiveness, safety, and quality before approving it for mass use.
In addition to Pfizer, Moderna is conducting a clinical trial of the vaccine in Canada — for children from 5 to 11 years old. The results are expected in early 2022. In the US, trials of the same company's vaccine have already started, but for children from 6 months to 12 years.
