THUNDER BAY – Children under five years old will soon have access to vaccination against COVID-19, after Health Canada announced Thursday it had approved Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for children.
That makes a group of about 1.7 million children in Canada newly eligible for the vaccine.
The vaccine is approved for children between the ages of six months and five years old, in doses one-quarter the size of those received by adults.
The Moderna vaccine, also known by its brand name Spikevax, involves two doses of 25 micrograms each, with an interval of four weeks.
"The clinical trial showed that the immune response to Spikevax in children 6 months to 5 years of age was comparable to that seen in people 18 to 25 years of age from a previous study," Health Canada stated in a release. "Efficacy was assessed when Omicron was the predominant variant of COVID-19 circulating in the U.S. and Canada. The vaccine was well tolerated and no safety signals were identified from the trial."
More information on Health Canada's approval is available at its website.
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) is expected to provide advice on usage of the vaccine later Thursday.
Thunder Bay’s medical officer of health, Dr. Janet DeMille, has called the pending approval of children’s vaccines an important step in the fight against COVID-19, but acknowledged vaccines for younger children may face more hesitancy from parents.
“We do know with the younger age group, there is sometimes a little more hesitancy, people potentially questioning how beneficial is it? Is my child that much at risk of COVID? And also understanding what the risks might be. It’s important we provide the facts to parents so they can make that decision,” she said in an interview last week.
Pfizer’s children’s vaccine for the same age group was submitted to Health Canada for approval in June. The agency has not yet made an announcement on its approval.
Moderna had submitted its application to Health Canada in April.
Note: This article has been updated with additional information provided by Health Canada.
