Alberta Health Services is encouraging parents to register children for its COVID-19 vaccine following Health Canada’s approval of the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5-11 on Friday.
“Appointments will be available as soon as we receive the vaccine supply,” the provincial health authority tweeted on Friday morning after the federal announcement.
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Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine for Children Ages 5-11 Approved by Health Canada
In a statement to Global News, Pfizer said it is preparing to ship pediatric doses to Canada, “and they should reach vaccination sites across Canada early next week.”
The manufacturer of the vaccine expected to distribute the 2.9 million doses by the end of next week.
Data from the Pfizer clinical trial showed the vaccine was 91 percent effective against COVID-19 in children ages 5 to 11. Of the 3,100 children vaccinated as part of the trials, there were no reports of myocarditis, pericarditis, or serious allergic reactions.
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommends that COVID-19 doses be spread over eight weeks, and recommends a two-week buffer before and after vaccination for any other vaccines, to help medical professionals better identify potential events. adverse.
According to a FAQ website For AHS parents, myocarditis and pericarditis in children due to an mRNA vaccine like Pfizer’s is an “extremely rare” side effect.
According to the Canadian Pediatric Society, children have been “relatively safe (from) the direct effects” of a COVID-19 infection, but an infection is not without risks for children.
Children with underlying conditions such as asthma, obesity, and neurodevelopmental disorders can result in greater severity. Prolonged COVID and multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) remain present concerns.
“For the last two months, almost every day we have a child with MIS-C in the ICU and often we also have a child with COVID pneumonia,” said Dr. Simon Parsons, ICU section chief at the ICU. Alberta Children’s Hospital. Global News said.
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Parsons said the waves of MIS-C cases appear about a month after the spikes of COVID-19 in the wider community.
“The bigger the peak, the more admitted to the ICU publish those peaks.”
The pediatric ICU physician estimated that the chance of a child contracting MIS-C or COVID pneumonia after becoming infected with COVID-19 is about 1 in 1,000.
“Is that a sufficient reason to get vaccinated? I think so, given the safety profiles of the vaccines that we know of now, ”Parsons said.
“It is also important that the vaccine that will soon be available to children will also help limit the spread of infection throughout the community.”
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The question of natural immunity from a previous COVID-19 infection is addressed in the AHS Frequently Asked Questions.
“While having the disease offers some protection against future infections, there is not enough data on that level of protection to know when it decreases or how protective it is against new variants,” writes AHS. “Complete immunization offers the best possible protection against the virus.”
Parsons agrees that children receiving both doses of one vaccine is the best way to prevent infection or reinfection.
“I don’t think we realize that there is a real possibility that your child will get COVID. And I certainly don’t think it’s highly appreciated. “
–With files from Leslie Young and Heather Yourex-West, Global News
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Reference-globalnews.ca