Canada Approves Pfizer’s Covid-19 Vaccine For Adolescents 12 Years and Older | Vaccine

Health Canada, the Canadian health agency, has provisionally authorized the use, importation and advertising of the vaccine to young people.

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The decision was based on the results of Phase 3 clinical trials of the vaccine, which evaluated 2,260 adolescents aged 12 to 15 years in the United States.

In a statement, Pfizer said the authorization of the vaccine in this age group “represents an important step in helping the Canadian government expand its vaccination program and start helping to protect adolescents before the next start. school year”.

The vaccine has not yet been authorized in children. According to the lab, there are already ongoing studies and tests in children 6 months to 11 years old.

Studies in minors were initially overlooked by pharmacists and universities because, initially, the safety of vaccines in adults was assessed. In addition, the youngest are the group with the lowest risk of dying from complications from Covid-19.

In December 2020, the manufacturer obtained approval for the provisional use of the vaccine in adolescents 16 years of age and older.

In March of this year, Pfizer announced that it had started testing the Covid vaccine in children under 12 in hopes of extending vaccination to this age group until early 2022.

The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine is the only vaccine authorized by regulatory agencies in the United States and Europe for minors: it can be applied from the age of 16.

The study involved 144 volunteers, the youngest being six-month-old babies. As a second step, the study should be extended to 4,500 volunteers to assess the safety and quality of antibody production in the youngest.

A total of three different dosage combinations will be evaluated: at 10, 20 and 30 micrograms.

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