B.C. will be releasing more details about the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines for children aged five to 11.
In a statement, Provincial Health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix, said they welcome Health Canada’s approval of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for children.
“The rigorous review confirms that this first vaccine formulated for younger children is safe and effective,” they said.
“We also welcome the recommendations from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization on use of this new lower-dose vaccine to provide protection to children from five to 11 years of age. We look forward to making the pediatric vaccine available for 360,000 young British Columbians as soon as possible.”
The two companies submitted a request for approval of a child-sized dose of its COVID-19 mRNA vaccine a month ago, on Oct. 18. They 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.
“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,” a statement said. “Health Canada has authorized a two-dose regimen of 10 micrograms to be administered three weeks apart, which is a lower dose than the 30 micrograms two-dose regimen authorized for people 12 years of age and older.”
Dix and Henry say the approval of the vaccine will help protect children from COVID-19.
“While children are at a lower risk of severe disease from COVID-19, it can still result in serious outcomes in some children, including hospitalization and long-term symptoms,” the said.
“As well, as we have seen over the past 20 months, the pandemic has had a tremendous impact on children and families and has led to significant disruptions to important social activities and school.”
In all, Canada is expecting an accelerated delivery of 2.9 million child-sized doses, enough to give every child in the five to 11 age group a first dose.
“We will be ready to start welcoming children to clinics throughout the province soon after we receive our supply of pediatric vaccines from the Government of Canada,” Dix and Henry said. “We will share detailed information early next week about B.C.’s plan for vaccines for children five to 11.”
Henry has on Tuesday, that she expects children to have access to COVID-19 vaccines before the holidays next month. More than 75,000 children have already been registered for their vaccine in B.C. , and parents will get a notification when it’s time to book a vaccine appointment.
In the meantime, people who have not yet registered their children are being encouraged to do so either online – or by phone at 1 833 838-2323 toll-free.
