Health Canada has authorized a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children ages five to 11, Public Health Director Dr. Theresa Tam said Friday.
Tam said the National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommends that children with underlying health conditions be offered a booster no sooner than six months after the second dose.
All other children in this age group may also be offered a booster, according to NACI advice.
“This booster dose offers a great option to restore protection for this age group, especially for those at high risk of serious disease,” Tam said.
Tam said the distinction between NACI’s recommendation for high-risk children and other children — that high-risk children “should be offered one and others “could be offered one “, could change as more information is gathered.
“For the rest of the children, the risk of serious outcomes is generally rare,” Tam said. “I think giving people the choice and providing parents and children with the information about the effectiveness of the vaccine and the importance of the booster can help them make that decision.”
As children return to school early, concerns have increased about the transmission of COVID-19 in schools.
Vaccine uptake in this age group is much lower than that of all older demographic groups, with 42% of five- to 11-year-olds vaccinated with two doses.
The vaccination rate in all the largest demographic groups is above 83%.
However, booster use among teens is also quite low, with less than one in five 12- to 17-year-olds receiving a booster eight months after being cleared by NACI to get one.
Tam said nationally, the latest wave of COVID-19 appears to have peaked or passed with declining cases and hospitalizations in most regions.
However, Tam said infections are likely to increase during the fall.
“We want people to go back to their normal lives and be able to go to school, go to universities, go back to work. So in these circumstances, we really need to put the protections in place,” Tam said.
He added that vaccination campaigns should start ramping up to get boosters to people before the fall.
About half of Canadians have received their first booster, while only 11% have received four doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on August 19, 2022.