The Canadian Health Authorities have now authorized the use of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccination for children aged between 5-11 years.
The decision was taken following an application submitted by the companies in October requesting a clinical trial among thousands of children of the particular age group.
The authorization came on Friday with a suggestion from Canada's National Advisory Committee saying that there must be at least an 8-week gap between the two doses.
"After a thorough and independent scientific review of the evidence, the department has determined that the benefits of this vaccine for children between five and 11 years of age outweigh the risks," said an official statement from Health Canada.
"A longer interval between doses leads to stronger immunity," said Howard Njoo, the deputy public health officer of Canada.
The government agency said the vaccine is 90.7% effective in preventing Covid-19 in children and no serious side effects were identified.
“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,” Health Canada said in a statement.
Reportedly, Canada will begin receiving shipments of the doses for young children on Sunday, Public Services and Procurement Minister Filomena Tassi announced Friday. All of the 2.9 million doses ordered will be received by the end of the week.
Canada became the third nation after Israel and the US to give a go-ahead for the use of Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine for children. The country is already giving the same vaccine to children who are 12 and older.
As per data by Health Canada, nearly 75 percent of all Canadians are fully vaccinated, including 84 percent of those 12 and older.
(with inputs from sources)
