While the Delta variant continues to sweep through Canada with infection rates highest among the unvaccinated, the Moderna vaccine has been approved by Health Canada for children between 12 and 17.
On Friday morning, August 27th, Health Canada said they considered the Moderna vaccine to be safe and effective at preventing COVID-19 for teenaged children.
The Pfizer vaccine was also approved for this age group in May.
Children will still receive two doses of the mRNA vaccine and doses should be scheduled at least one month apart from each other.
This may come as welcome news for parents worried about the back-to-school season.
From August 11 to 24, people not fully vaccinated accounted for 82.4% of COVID-19 cases and 86.4% of hospitalizations.
Both Pfizer and Moderna are still completing studies on whether their mRNA vaccine will be admissible for children under the age of 12.
In mid-August, Henry revealed both Pfizer and Moderna have completed dosing studies and have moved on to Stage 3 in their trials to create vaccines for children aged 6 months to 6 years and 6 years to 12 years old.
Pfizer is likely to complete this stage in September or October, resulting in a vaccination possibly becoming available for those aged 6 to 12 by the end of the calendar year.
Moderna is slightly behind Pfizer, however, a vaccine for this age group is expected in early 2022.
With files from Mariah Burchell
