In a virtual news conference, Dr. Supriya Sharma, chief medical adviser with Health Canada, confirms
the department's regulatory approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine for children ages five to 11. This is the first COVID-19 vaccine to be authorized for use with this age group in Canada. It will be offered in doses one-third the size that is given to those ages 12 and older. Dr. Sharma is joined by Dr. Marc Berthiaume, director of the Bureau of Medical Science at Health Canada; Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer; Dr. Howard Njoo, deputy chief public health officer; and Dr. Matthew Tunis, executive secretary to the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI). Dr. Tam says that NACI is recommending an interval of eight weeks or more between doses of the pediatric vaccine.

WHO, with support of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization and its COVID-19 Vaccines Working Group, is reviewing the emerging evidence on the need for and timing of vaccinating children and adolescents with the currently available COVID-19 vaccines which have received Emergency Use Listing (EUL). SAGE is continuously reviewing the literature and has reached out to vaccine manufacturers, the research community and Member States to obtain the most complete and recent data on the issue.  This interim statement was developed with additional support from the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group of Experts (STAGE) on maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health, and nutrition.