Health Canada has approved Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine for children aged five to 11, saying it’s more than 90 per cent effective against COVID-19 in younger kids.
“After a thorough and independent scientific review of the evidence, the department has determined that the benefits of this vaccine for children between five and 11 years of age outweigh the risks,” Health Canada wrote in a release Friday morning.
“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.”
Pfizer-BioNTech’s pediatric vaccine is delivered in doses one-third the size of those given to adults and kids 12 and older. Health Canada authorized a two-dose regimen to be administered three weeks apart.
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), however, is recommending that the spacing between doses be increased to at least eight weeks, as evidence has been growing that a longer interval generates a more robust immune response. The longer spacing might also help to decrease even further the risk of the rare side effect of myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle), NACI said.
Health Canada said clinical trials showed the vaccine was 90.7 per cent effective at preventing COVID-19 in children five to 11 years of age and that no serious side effects were identified.
In a statement Friday, Pfizer said the new doses would be shipped “imminently.”
The provinces and territories are responsible for administering the vaccine. Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott said the province’s booking system should be ready as early next week for parents to make appointments for their children.
Everyone benefits: doctor
Dr. Michelle Barton-Forbes is an associate professor at Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry in London Ont., who specializes in pediatric infectious disease. She said this could be a game-changer for Canada’s pandemic response.
“So ultimately, not only will we help to keep kids from acute COVID-19 and its consequences, we will keep kids healthy and we will also keep them happy as they are allowed to do in-class learning and extracurricular activities,” she said.
“This would also help reduce new adult cases in the community resulting from children with school acquisition who go home and infect their parents and grandparents. It could also help to limit COVID-19-related hospitalizations at a time when other viruses are already driving pediatric hospitalizations and ICU admissions.”
Caroline Quach, the former chair of NACI and a pediatric infectious diseases expert at the University of Montreal, said that while it’s normal for parents to question vaccines for children, the trials show the vaccine is effective and less reactogenic — meaning the percentage of children aged five to 11 who received the vaccine and experienced fever, fatigue and myalgia is lower than the percentage of vaccine recipients 16 to 25 years old who experienced similar reactions.
“There were enough children in the Pfizer study to know this with confidence,” she said.
“It is brilliant that we have this vaccine for kids,” said Dr. Allison McGeer, an infectious diseases specialist and microbiologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.
Although COVID-19 isn’t usually as serious in children as it is in older adults, she said, it is a “non-trivial disease. It’s something most parents will want their children well protected from.”
“Whatever proportion of kids get vaccinated will create a significant reduction in transmission and just let us all get back to something closer to normal,” McGeer said.
The Canadian Paediatric Society also issued a statement saying it “welcomes” the vaccine’s approval.
As part of its approval, Health Canada is requiring Pfizer-BioNTech to continue providing information to Health Canada on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine in the younger age group.
“This will provide the department with more data from ongoing studies and real-world use to ensure that the benefits of the vaccine continue to outweigh any risks, as well as to detect any potential new safety signals in any age group,” said the department.
“Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada will continue to closely monitor the safety of this vaccine and will take action if any safety concerns are identified.”
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
