As the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus continues to spread across Canada, pediatricians say many parents and guardians of children under five want to know when and if a vaccine could soon come.
It’s still unknown when a COVID-19 vaccine could be offered to kids in this country, as drug manufacturers have yet to apply to Health Canada to provide a vaccine for this age group.
But pediatricians are looking at the United States, where the approval process is moving quickly, to get an idea of when a vaccine could be approved here.
Pfizer-BioNTech was asked by U.S. regulators last week to submit its vaccine application ahead of schedule.
The Food and Drug Administration announced Friday it will not make a decision on whether to authorize a vaccine for children younger than five until data on a third dose is also available, which Pfizer-BioNTech says would be available in early April.
Pediatricians say that if Pfizer soon gets the go-ahead in the U.S., the company would likely seek approval for its vaccine in Canada and other countries.
Drug manufacturers such as Pfizer and Moderna have tested out a vaccine for young children, and the shot could be offered to youngsters in the U.S. within weeks. The pediatric vaccine, pictured, is currently offered only to kids aged five to 11. (Ivanoh Demers/Radio-Canada)
“I’m a parent myself, and I have two kids in the five-to-11 age group and they are vaccinated. But I do have a child under five, so I’m pretty excited about the potential of a vaccine in this age group,” Dr. Cora Constantinescu, a pediatrician and infectious diseases physician at Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary, told Dr. Brian Goldman, host of CBC podcast The Dose.
Children under five are in the only age group not yet eligible in Canada for vaccination against COVID-19.
Here’s what we know about the vaccine for young children.
How effective is Pfizer’s vaccine?
Canadian pediatricians say information is limited right now because Pfizer has not yet made all of its trial data public.
But the FDA announced Friday they were postponing the meeting to give the agency time to consider the additional data from Pfizer on third doses, “allowing for a transparent public discussion as part of our usual scientific and regulatory processes for COVID-19 vaccines,” the FDA said in a statement.
That meeting, which hasn’t been rescheduled, will give the public its first look at any new evidence of how effective Pfizer’s vaccine series was among preschoolers. The FDA could use the committee’s advice in deciding whether the doses are safe and effective enough for the youngest children.
The drug manufacturer said in December that preliminary study results showed that two low doses of its mRNA vaccine promoted a strong immune response in children between the ages of six months and two years old.
Dr. Cora Constantinescu, a pediatrician and infectious diseases physician at Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary, expects a vaccine could be available before summer. (Jennifer Lee/CBC)
But two doses were less effective at preventing COVID-19 in two-to-five-year-olds. It’s not clear why, but one possibility is that the dose for this age group was a little too low.
For Pfizer’s adult vaccine, each shot in the two-dose series was 30 micrograms, while the dosage amount dropped to three mcg for the under-five age group.
In the trial, there was an interval of three weeks between the first and second shots for kids under five.
Constantinescu said she thinks there are two reasons why the vaccine was less effective for older children during the trial: The 21-day interval might not have been long enough for an immune system response, and the immunological age of kids who are two to five years old could have played a role.
“In a person’s life, their immune system is at different stages,” Constantinescu said, adding that other routine vaccines given to kids at this age often include three or four vaccines.
Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have both held trials for a vaccine for kids under five. (Jaclyn Nash/National Museum of American History/Reuters)
“It just takes a bit longer to train the immune system to respond appropriately to an antigen, and it’s conceivable that might also weigh in.”
The drugmaker added a third shot to the study, but results are not expected until late March.
Still, the FDA took the highly unusual step of urging Pfizer to apply now for a two-dose series, with a third shot potentially added later.
What is the hospitalization rate for children?
“I think there’s a lot of pressure on Pfizer to submit to the FDA because there’s a lot of concern about the number of children that are being hospitalized in the U.S. with COVID — and some of them with fairly serious disease,” said Dr. Noni MacDonald, a pediatric vaccinologist at Dalhousie University in Halifax.
From mid-December until Jan. 7, the hospitalization rate in the youngest kids in the U.S. had surged to more than four in 100,000 children, up from 2.5 per 100,000.
But in Canada, the hospitalization rate in this age group is not as big a problem as it is in the U.S., MacDonald said.
WATCH | Pfizer’s vaccine for youngsters could get approval in February, reports say:
Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for kids under 5 could get approval in February: reports
10 days ago
Duration 2:05
U.S. reports say Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine could get emergency approval for children aged six months to five years by the end of February, much earlier than expected. 2:05
As of Feb. 4, the number of kids up to age 11 hospitalized with COVID-19 accounted for 1.8 per cent of the 122,074 total hospitalizations in Canada.
Canada does not provide specific data for the age group up to five years old.
Young children and teens are among the rising number of Canadians being hospitalized with COVID-19 as Omicron infections keep surging across the country.
Medical experts have stressed that there is a reduced likelihood of severe outcomes for the vast majority of children who test positive for COVID-19 and that the rise in hospitalizations among youth is likely tied to the variant’s ability to infect more people.
What do we know about the safety of Pfizer’s vaccine?
Constantinescu said based on what Pfizer-BioNTech has said, there were no safety concerns raised during the trial.
“That’s really reassuring that it’s not a safety problem. The issue seems that the antibody response is not where they were hoping it would be after two doses,” she said.
But the specific efficacy and safety data has yet to be made public.
What do we know about Moderna’s vaccine?
Moderna ran trials of its vaccine for this age group in several Canadian cities.
Similar to its vaccine series for adults, Moderna’s vaccine trial in the under-five age group saw two doses of vaccine given 28 days apart.
A spokesperson told CBC News that the company doesn’t know when it will apply to Health Canada for a vaccine for kids under five but that it is “actively working on it.”
Pediatricians hope that we could see a vaccine for this younger age group by the summer.
But that all depends on when and if Health Canada approves a vaccine for kids under five.
As of Wednesday, Health Canada has received no applications for a COVID-19 vaccine in children under five years old.
Kids five and older are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in Canada. Pediatricians say many parents of younger children are anxiously awaiting approval for a vaccine. (Maggie MacPherson/CBC)
A spokesperson for Pfizer Canada said it’s in ongoing discussions with Health Canada about a vaccine for this age group but couldn’t provide a timeline as to when it plans to apply.
Dalhousie’s MacDonald said she expects the vaccine will be approved for use much quicker than those for older people because the data on its effectiveness in other age groups already exists.
“Now they’re going to look at all of that carefully, but it’s not a truckload of data like it would be if we were starting with a brand new vaccine first out the gate,” she said.
Why should parents, guardians consider the vaccine?
Pediatricians have already heard from parents wanting to know more about the vaccine for kids under five.
Dr. Ayisha Kurji, a Saskatoon-based pediatrician and assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Saskatchewan, said that earlier in the pandemic, messaging focused on protecting adults and that the risk of severe illness in children was lower.
But as time went on and more was learned about the coronavirus and its variants, the messaging to parents changed.
“It’s still pretty mild, but it is still something that can affect them,” she said.
Both Kurji and Constantinescu said it’s important to relay to parents and guardians that the vaccine will protect children from COVID-19.
“Having that individual protection is important — not just in the midst of a wave, but also long term for their health and well-being,” Constantinescu said. “I think parents are going to do the right thing and protect their kid with this vaccine.”
Written and produced by Stephanie Dubois, with files from Christine Birak and The Associated Press
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
