Canada Becomes First Country To Approve Pfizer Jab For Children Aged 12-15

Canada Becomes First Country To Approve Pfizer Jab For Children Aged 12-15.

Canada has become the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer vaccine for use in children aged between 12 and 15 years old.

The Canadian government’s chief medical adviser, Dr. Supriya Sharma, said the decision would help children return to a normal life. Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine was previously only authorised for people aged 16 or older.

The US Food and Drug Administration is also expected to approve the drug for young people by next week, setting up jabs for many before the beginning of the next school year. It comes nearly a month after the pharmaceutical company found that its jab also provided protection for the younger age group.

In March, Pfizer released preliminary results from a vaccine study of 2,260 US volunteers aged 12 to 15 showing there were no cases of Covid-19 among fully vaccinated adolescents compared with 18 among those given dummy jabs.

“After completing a thorough and independent scientific review of the evidence, the department determined that this vaccine is safe and effective when used in this younger age group,” said Health Canada’s chief medical adviser Dr. Supriya Sharma.

Health Canada has authorized those 12 years of age and older to be given the same dose regimen as adults. The authorization was based on the results of Pfizer-BioNTech’s Phase 3 clinical trial involving 2,260 adolescents aged 12 to 15.

Conducted in the United States, the trial found the vaccine to be 100 per cent effective in children aged 12 to 15, up from the 95 per cent efficacy shown after the second shot in the trials with older age groups.

“While younger people are less likely to experience serious cases of COVID-19, having access to a safe and effective vaccine will help control the disease’s spread to their family and friends, some of whom may be at higher risk of complications. It will also support the return to a more normal life for our children who have had such a hard time over the past year,” Sharma said.

The two-dose Pfizer vaccine was the first COVID-19 vaccine to be authorized by Health Canada. It was given the regulatory green light in December 2020 and was the first COVID-19 vaccine to be administered in this country.

Source: The Guardian