
Pfizer asks Health Canada to approve COVID-19 vaccine for kids 5 to 11 years old
CBC
Pfizer has asked Health Canada to approve the first COVID-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11 years old.
As soon as the regulator gives the green light, providers will be able to start offering the COVID-19 shot to kids, though new child-sized doses might need to be procured.
The doses are about one-third the size given to adults and teens age 12 and up.
Pfizer has delivered more than 46 million doses to Canada to date, and an analysis of the available data on administration from provincial and federal governments suggests there are more than enough Pfizer doses already in Canada to vaccinate kids between the ages of five and 11.
But simply pulling smaller doses from vials Canada already had stockpiled across the country may not be advised, chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam said at a media briefing late last week.
"We also understand from Pfizer that this actual formulation has shifted," Tam said Friday. "This is a next generation formulation, so that is something that needs to be examined by the regulator."
Canada signed a new contract with Pfizer for pediatric doses last spring.













