Pfizer says COVID-19 vaccine for kids is safe and more than 90% effective
Doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine are safe and nearly 91 per cent effective, according to details of the company's own study released Friday.
The news comes as more than 62,000 children in B.C. are already pre-registered for vaccine appointments.
The company study tracked 2,268 children aged five to 11. They were given two shots of vaccine three weeks apart of either a placebo or the low-dose vaccine.
Each dose was one-third the amount given to teens and adults.
Sixteen children who were given placebo shots contracted COVID-19, compared to three cases among vaccinated children, according to Pfizer.
No severe illnesses were reported, the company said, but those who were vaccinated had much milder symptoms.
Because more than twice as many children in the trial were given the vaccine than placebo, that equates to better than 90 per cent efficacy, Pfizer said. The study also suggested children developed coronavirus-fighting antibody levels just as strong as teens and young adults who got regular-strength vaccinations.
Dr. Brian Conway, medical director of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre, described the study results as “very good news.”
“We now know that it is as effective in this age group in preventing COVID as it has already been demonstrated to be in clinical trials and in widespread use in all other age groups throughout the world,” Dr. Conway said.
One limitation of the trial, according to Conway, is the sample size. He says it’s too small to detect any serious and extremely rare side effects, such myocarditis – inflammation of the heart.
A recent study by the Ottawa Heart Institute was retracted after overestimating cases of the side effect from an mRNA vaccine at one in 1,000 patients.
Infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch said current estimates are actually “about one in 6,000 to one in 25,000.”
Still, Dr. Conway said it’s important parents understand the risks and benefits of getting children vaccinated.
“In Canada if we vaccinated two million children aged five to 11, there is going to be between 35 and 50 cases of myocarditis caused by the vaccine, we know that,” he said. “But if we don’t vaccinate them in that age group, we are expecting, over the same period of time, 400 to die of COVID.”
In addition, Dr. Conway said the risk of developing myocarditis is likely reduced in younger children.
“We already know that it is less in children aged 12 to 15 than it is in children 16 to 19 so we might expect that at its highest, it will be equivalent to that in the younger teenagers," he said.
Pfizer’s pediatric vaccine is still being reviewed by Health Canada, though Canada is already set to receive 2.9 million doses.
Health Canada’s chief medical advisor Dr. Supriya Sharma said it’s not a done deal yet.
“Kids are not just little big people, they have their own considerations,” Dr. Sharma said. “We wouldn’t authorize it unless it met the rigorous standards that we have to make sure that the benefits outweigh the risk.”
B.C. parents can pre-register children for vaccination appointments online ahead of the shot being approved.
As of Friday, the province said there are 62,438 registrations for children between the ages of five and 11, adding there are approximately 350,000 people in B.C. who are or will be in that age group in 2021.
With files from The Associated Press
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.