Spring allergy season has begun. Where is it worse in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Health Canada has authorized the first COVID-19 vaccine for children, giving the regulatory green light to Pfizer-BioNTech’s two-dose vaccine, meaning kids across the country will soon be able to receive additional protection against the novel coronavirus.
Children ages five- to 11-years old are now eligible to get vaccinated with a dosage that is one third the size that has been offered to those aged 12 and older.
The first shipment of these pediatric doses will arrive on Sunday, with a total of 2.9 million doses landing by the end of next week.
“That’s enough doses to offer a first shot to all eligible children in this country,” Procurement Minister Filomena Tassi said Friday.
While Health Canada has approved the doses to be given 21 days apart, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) is recommending an interval of eight weeks or more between the first and second doses.
“This is the first COVID-19 vaccine authorized in Canada for use in this age group and marks a major milestone in Canada's fight against COVID-19,” said Canada’s regulatory agency in a statement. “After a thorough and independent scientific review of the evidence, the Department has determined that the benefits of this vaccine for children between 5 and 11 years of age outweigh the risks.”
In an interview on CTV News Channel’s Power Play, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said that these doses can start to be administered next week, but couldn’t confirm when further doses to cover second shots will be arriving, other than to say he anticipates it’ll be in time to meet NACI’s eight week interval recommendation.
During a press conference discussing the long-anticipated authorization, Health Canada's chief medical adviser Dr. Supriya Sharma said that the formulation approved for children is “slightly different” than the version authorized for adults, but the immune responses were “comparable.”
“The main adverse events reported were similar to those and in adolescents and young adults, but were less frequent, except for redness and swelling at the injection site, which were slightly higher. Other adverse events reported included fatigue, and headache. Most reactions were mild to moderate in severity, and resolved quickly on their own,” Sharma said of the clinical and safety data evaluated by Health Canada.
Pfizer Canada says that steps have been taken to differentiate the pediatric formulation vials from the adult version, including putting an orange cap on the version for kids.
Health Canada had been prioritizing the review of Pfizer’s submission to use its vaccine in those ages five to 11 since Oct. 18, and a similar review is ongoing for Moderna’s two-dose mRNA vaccine for those ages six to 11.
“This is an exciting moment, and it's a day that many parents across the country have been eager to wait for and this is the opportunity for them to start to immunize their school-based children,” said Pfizer Canada vaccines lead Fabien Paquette in an interview.
According to Health Canada’s authorization, clinical trials have shown that the Pfizer vaccine was 95 per cent effective in protecting trial participants from COVID-19 for those 16 years and older, 100 per cent effective for those 12 to 15 years old, and 90.7 per cent effective for those five to 11 years old.
Sharma said that in the data reviewed by Health Canada, the four reported serious adverse events were ultimately determined to be unrelated to vaccination, and there were no reports of myocarditis, pericarditis, or severe allergic reactions.
Dr. Tam said that evidence emerging from adult immunization indicates that longer intervals between doses results in a longer-lasting immune response, and may lower the risk of myocarditis and pericarditis.
NACI is recommending that, unless otherwise advised by their doctor, children have a 14-day interval between receiving any other vaccines and the COVID-19 shot, calling it a “precaution” to help determine the possible cause of any side-effects that may arise.
Paquette said that NACI’s suggestion for a longer interval is based on its own analysis, and that Pfizer’s submission was based off of its studies using a 21 day wait between doses.
“A longer interval has not been studied with this age group,” he said.
Should NACI’s dose interval be observed by provinces and territories, it means that those aged five to 11 will not be able to be fully vaccinated before the Christmas holiday season. Sharma suggested that if families have specific dosing concerns related to holiday or travel plans, they could discuss their situation with healthcare practitioners.
Still, Dr. Tam is viewing the authorization as a “welcome additional prevention option,” given “the current and prevailing epidemiology of COVID-19 in Canada, where incidence rates have remained highest in children aged five to 11 years for most of the fourth wave.”
The Public Health Agency of Canada says there will be efforts taken to inform parents and encourage them to vaccinate their children, but in her view, Tam doesn’t think now is the time to be discussing implementing an extension of vaccine mandates to children.
“We shouldn’t include a pediatric mandate at this point… There’s very little access anywhere else in the world to pediatric vaccines, we’re one of the first countries… And so for the purposes of travel for example, I don’t expect that we will be requiring this,” she said.
“During this time, it is very important that we support children and their caregivers and making informed decisions about COVID-19 vaccination while respecting their choices and pace of decision making,” Tam said.
Referencing potential hesitancy, Sharma said that she understands the worry about what might happen, but “not choosing to get the vaccine for your children is also a choice.”
Reacting to the news, CTV News medical specialist Dr. Marla Shapiro said that the side-effects from COVID-19 vaccines are “well outweighed” by the risks associated with a COVID-19 infection.
“Mostly, what we expect to see is sore arms, redness, maybe a little bit of flu like symptoms if some kids experience that… But every parent has to ask their questions, be comfortable with their decision, and I think it's really to understand what's the downside of not getting vaccinated and then the risk of getting COVID in a child,” she said on CTV News Channel.
Pfizer will be required to continue providing Canada with safety and efficacy information from ongoing studies and real-world usage, with Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada pledging to “closely monitor” the usage of this vaccine, which has been given the brand name of “Comirnaty.”
Sharma had been signalling for a few weeks that the authorization was around the corner, and in anticipation provinces and territories have been putting plans in place to administer these doses as soon as supply is ready.
Officials have previously stated that Canada has enough syringes and other supplies necessary to administer the pediatric COVID-19 vaccines.
“We are working closely with Pfizer to firm up the exact schedule for delivery of the second doses, and we all have more information to share about that soon,” Tassi said.
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.
Crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for a massive fraud that unravelled with the collapse of FTX, once one of the world's most popular platforms for exchanging digital currency.
Peggy is a stout and muscular Staffordshire bull terrier, and Molly is a magpie, an Australian bird best known for swooping on humans during breeding season, not for befriending dogs. But in an emotional video posted online, Peggy’s owners announced that the animals had been separated.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
B.C. conservation officers recently seized a nine-foot-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
The Ontario government is introducing changes to auto-insurance, but some experts say the move is ill-advised.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
A Toronto man is out $12,000 after falling victim to a deepfake cryptocurrency scam that appeared to involve Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.
There’s a group of people in Saskatoon that proudly call themselves dumpster divers, and they’re turning the city’s trash into treasure.
Ontario is facing a larger than anticipated deficit but the Doug Ford government still plans to balance its books before the next provincial election.