Covid: Canada authorises Pfizer vaccine for children aged 12 to 15

It is the first country to do so for that age group.

The country's health ministry made the decision based on data from phase three clinical trials on children that age.

"The department determined that this vaccine is safe and effective when used in this younger age group," an adviser at the ministry said. Pfizer says its jab works well in the age group.

Canada has already authorised the use of the Pfizer vaccine in people over 16.

The state of Alberta, which has the highest rate of the virus in the country, said it would offer vaccines to those over 12 from Monday.

Canada has recorded more than 1.2 million coronavirus cases and roughly 20% of those have been in people under the age of 19.

Children's risk of becoming very ill or dying with Covid-19 is tiny, and throughout the pandemic they have very rarely needed hospital treatment.

As part of the vaccine's approval, Pfizer will have to continue providing information to Canada's health ministry on the safety, efficacy and quality of the vaccine in those aged 12 to 15.

In March, Pfizer said initial results from trials of its vaccine in this age group showed 100% efficacy and a strong immune response.

The US Food and Drug administration and the European Medicines Agency are currently reviewing whether they can authorise the jab for younger people, with decisions expected soon.

US President Joe Biden this week laid out plans to roll out vaccines for 12- to 15-year-olds as soon as possible.

What about other vaccine manufacturers?

Pfizer is one of a number of vaccine manufacturers testing jabs on children. The aim of vaccinating them - particularly older children - would be to keep schools open, reduce the spread of coronavirus in the community and protect vulnerable children with conditions which put them at increased risk.

Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are currently testing their vaccines on those aged 12-18, with Moderna's data expected soon.

Moderna and Pfizer are also testing their jabs on younger children between six months and 11 years old.

media captionAtraZeneca's clinical trial on volunteers between six and 17 begin

In the UK, AstraZeneca is testing its vaccine on 300 child volunteers. Researchers will assess whether the jab produces a strong immune response in children aged between six and 17.

Canada is the first country to act

By Rachel Schraer, BBC health reporter

Children haven't generally been included in the first phase of most countries' vaccine programmes, because under-16s weren't included in the original trials.

Drug companies are understandably wary to test products on children, especially when their risk from the disease the vaccine protects against is low.

But for the families of children with certain health conditions that make them vulnerable to Covid, being sure the shot is safe takes on a whole different importance.

Now we do have some trial data from Pfizer for 12- to 15-year-olds, suggesting the vaccine is both safe and effective. And Canada is the first country to act on this data.

Although most children are not at high risk from Covid, if they can begin to be safely vaccinated it is believed this could help countries to achieve herd immunity, reducing the chances of disease outbreaks in the future.

And with many countries struggling to vaccinate their most vulnerable populations - against a virus that doesn't respect borders - the Canadian move could raise questions about whether the vaccines could be prioritised better elsewhere.

Global vaccine rollout

Click or tap the map

Reset

 

Total doses per 100 people

No data

0

10

20

30

40

50+

Scroll table

Filter table:                                     The World                                     Africa                                     Asia                                     Europe                                     Middle East                                     Latin America & Caribbean                                     North America                                     Oceania                                 

LocationDoses per 100 peopleTotal dosesWorld

15.1

1,175,451,507China

19.5

281,542,664US

73.8

246,780,203India

11.3

156,082,136UK

75.0

50,089,549Brazil

20.7

43,962,159Germany

36.0

30,147,919Turkey

27.6

23,294,477France

32.9

22,413,191Italy

35.0

21,161,899Indonesia

7.4

20,172,516Russia

13.8

20,110,554Mexico

14.3

18,471,669Spain

36.6

17,130,598Chile

77.7

14,850,160Canada

37.2

14,051,490Poland

31.7

11,995,786United Arab Emirates

107.9

10,666,924Israel

120.9

10,467,511Saudi Arabia

28.0

9,757,161Morocco

25.4

9,389,397Bangladesh

5.4

8,842,888Argentina

17.8

8,039,793Hungary

63.7

6,150,309Romania

27.8

5,341,742Netherlands

30.7

5,265,860Colombia

10.3

5,220,330Belgium

34.4

3,986,716South Korea

7.3

3,733,940Serbia

51.8

3,526,876Japan

2.8

3,489,719Portugal

33.8

3,442,517Czech Republic

30.6

3,272,012Sweden

32.3

3,266,894Austria

35.8

3,225,441Greece

30.1

3,136,791Switzerland

30.4

2,629,843Cambodia

14.8

2,469,822Australia

8.9

2,260,615Singapore

37.8

2,213,888Pakistan

1.0

2,100,000Nepal

7.2

2,091,511Denmark

35.2

2,037,465Philippines

1.8

1,999,214Dominican Republic

18.3

1,989,384Uruguay

53.8

1,868,201Finland

33.7

1,866,796Peru

5.3

1,759,014Norway

32.1

1,741,081Slovakia

30.3

1,653,003Qatar

56.8

1,635,398Ireland

32.2

1,591,888Kazakhstan

8.3

1,559,836Mongolia

46.7

1,532,522Azerbaijan

15.0

1,516,923Malaysia

4.6

1,500,202Thailand

2.1

1,498,617Bahrain

75.4

1,283,303Nigeria

0.6

1,229,733Ethiopia

1.0

1,168,268Iran

1.3

1,068,123Myanmar

1.9

1,040,000Ecuador

5.9

1,036,794Sri Lanka

4.8

1,024,978Lithuania

37.2

1,012,046Kuwait

23.4

1,000,000Croatia

22.4

921,527Jordan

9.0

919,922El Salvador

14.1

915,725Kenya

1.6

853,081Ghana

2.7

849,527Bolivia

7.3

848,149Bulgaria

12.0

833,510Costa Rica

16.1

818,884Ukraine

1.7

756,310Panama

16.1

692,764Egypt

0.6

660,000Slovenia

31.2

647,758Uzbekistan

1.8

600,369Zimbabwe

3.5

524,199Albania

18.0

517,501Vietnam

0.5

506,435Bhutan

62.3

480,498Lebanon

6.9

473,740Estonia

35.5

470,680Angola

1.4

456,349Senegal

2.5

413,031Tunisia

3.4

400,364Maldives

73.9

399,550Rwanda

2.7

350,131Malta

77.4

341,909Uganda

0.7

339,607South Africa

0.6

329,098Belarus

3.5

328,500Latvia

17.1

321,966Oman

6.2

315,691Iraq

0.7

298,377Malawi

1.5

296,127Venezuela

0.9

250,000Afghanistan

0.6

240,000Cyprus

27.0

236,265New Zealand

4.8

232,588Palestinian Territories

4.2

213,989Luxembourg

32.0

200,553Laos

2.5

184,387Guatemala

1.0

171,695Ivory Coast

0.6

163,176Togo

1.9

160,000Moldova

3.7

147,315Iceland

42.8

146,111Guinea

1.1

143,534Guinea

1.1

143,534Sudan

0.3

140,227Jamaica

4.6

135,473Nicaragua

2.0

135,130Seychelles

129.0

126,840Guyana

16.1

126,800Somalia

0.7

117,567Mauritius

9.2

117,323Paraguay

1.5

103,994Equatorial Guinea

5.4

75,518Algeria

0.2

75,000Barbados

26.0

74,608Isle of Man

85.5

72,673Gibraltar

211.1

71,114Cayman Islands

100.0

65,694Montenegro

10.2

63,820Taiwan

0.3

62,437North Macedonia

3.0

61,603Sierra Leone

0.8

61,107Honduras

0.6

57,639Mozambique

0.2

57,305Fiji

6.2

56,000Bermuda

89.8

55,904Mali

0.2

49,903Botswana

2.1

49,882Guernsey

69.5

46,587Zambia

0.2

45,740Georgia

1.1

45,338Trinidad and Tobago

3.2

44,810Belize

10.6

42,100Suriname

6.8

39,953Eswatini

3.0

34,897San Marino

88.2

29,941Antigua and Barbuda

30.4

29,754Andorra

36.9

28,503Kyrgyzstan

0.4

27,858Dominica

38.6

27,821Bahamas

6.5

25,692Turks and Caicos Islands

64.7

25,039Saint Lucia

13.3

24,426Monaco

62.1

24,390Kosovo

0.000

22,096Gambia

0.9

20,922Faroe Islands

41.4

20,238Namibia

0.8

20,005Lesotho

0.7

16,000Grenada

13.7

15,397Bosnia and Herzegovina

0.5

15,000St Vincent and the Grenadines

13.1

14,526Congo

0.3

14,297Greenland

25.0

14,176Liechtenstein

32.0

12,219Saint Kitts and Nevis

22.3

11,848Brunei

2.4

10,715Djibouti

1.0

10,246Sao Tome and Principe

4.4

9,724Gabon

0.4

8,897Samoa

3.7

7,435Mauritania

0.2

7,038Anguilla

46.0

6,898Tonga

5.1

5,367Solomon Islands

0.7

4,890Saint Helena

75.3

4,572Falkland Islands

126.5

4,407Papua New Guinea

0.032

2,900Timor-Leste

0.2

2,629Syria

0.014

2,500Cape Verde

0.4

2,184Montserrat

38.2

1,909DR Congo

0.002

1,700Niger

0.006

1,366South Sudan

0.009

947Libya

0.011

750Nauru

6.5

700Armenia

0.019

565Cameroon

0.002

400Benin

0

0British Indian Ocean Territory

0

0British Virgin Islands

0

0Burkina Faso

0

0Burundi

0

0Central African Republic

0

0Chad

0

0Comoros

0

0Cook Islands

0

0Cuba

0

0Eritrea

0

0Guinea-Bissau

0

0Haiti

0

0Kiribati

0

0Liberia

0

0Madagascar

0

0Niue

0

0North Korea

0

0Pitcairn

0

0South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

0

0Tajikistan

0

0Tanzania

0

0Tokelau

0

0Turkmenistan

0

0Tuvalu

0

0Vanuatu

0

0Vatican

0

0Yemen

0

0

Show more

This information is regularly updated but may not reflect the latest totals for each country. Total vaccinations refers to the number of doses given, not the number of people vaccinated. It is possible to have more than 100 doses per 100 population as some vaccines require two doses per person.

Source: Our World in Data, ONS, gov.uk dashboard

Last updated: 4 May 2021, 12:29 BST