According to Public Services and Procurement Minister Filomena Tassi, the first doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination for kids between the ages 5 to 11 will commence arriving in Canada on Sunday.
Tassi said the government and Pfizer-BioNTech had made an arrangement to expedite delivery pace and that more than 2.9 million doses to be distributed by the end of the week, which will be enough to give every eligible Canadian child the first dosage.
Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination for kids below 12 years was approved by Health Canada, paving the way for a very different new year for large numbers of families.
Health Canada announced in a news release Friday morning that, “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”.
The vaccine must be administered by the provinces and territories. The province’s booking system, according to Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott, should be available for parents to schedule appointments for their kids by earlier next week.
Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos indicated that children should start getting dosages by the close of next week. Pfizer-BioNTech’s pediatric vaccine is injected in doses one-third the size of those given to adults and youngsters 12 and older.
Health Canada considered approval of a two-dose vaccination schedule to be given at an interval of three weeks. However, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommends that the period between doses be lengthened to at least eight weeks, citing increasing evidence that a longer gap results in a more strong immune response.
Source: CBC News
