Health Canada approved Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for children under five on Thursday, making infants, toddlers and preschoolers eligible for vaccination for the first time.
Here’s what you need to know:
When will it arrive and how will it be administered?
An Ontario government spokesperson told CP24 the province expects to receive the Moderna vaccine for under-fives “late” during the week of July 18-22, with enforcement beginning soon after.
Moderna and the US Food and Drug Administration say doses should be given about one month apart, but NACI and Health Canada say they should be given eight weeks apart to maximize the generation of neutralizing antibodies over a wider period of time.
During the launch of Pfizer’s pediatric vaccine last winter, parents in Ontario could choose to have their child receive their second dose in less than eight weeks.
It is not known if this option will be available for this younger cohort.
The 10 microgram injection is given in the deltoid like most other vaccines.
That’s less than the 25-microgram Pfizer pediatric dose given to 5-11-year-olds and the 50-microgram Moderna dose approved for older children.
In comparison, adults received either a 100-microgram dose of Moderna or a 30-microgram dose of Pfizer.
Why is it necessary?
Pediatric infectious disease specialist Anna Banerjee told CP24 that COVID-19, especially Omicron, can cause very severe outcomes in young children.
“You can have COVID pneumonia, COVID can make other underlying conditions like asthma worse, you can have serious problems like inflammatory syndrome,” she said.
In fact, Public Health Ontario’s tracking of COVID-19 hospitalizations found that during the pandemic, children under four were hospitalized five to six times more often than children ages 5-11 and 12-19. , with a particularly large disparity following the arrival of the Omicron variant.
She said the projected schedule suggests no young children will be fully vaccinated until early September, but there is an opportunity to get the first doses for many before then.
“It’s two doses of the vaccine in eight weeks, so I’m not sure we can vaccinate the kids before school starts.” But we can start as soon as it’s available.”
She said putting the COVID-19 vaccines in daycares and preschools, and even some junior kindergartens, will reduce transmission rates and severe outcomes when summer is over.
“This is the last group of unvaccinated people together in these settings, so it’s a really big deal.”
NACI found that Moderna’s pediatric vaccine was 51 percent effective in preventing symptomatic infection starting two weeks after the second dose, in a study conducted when Omicron was the dominant strain circulating in Canada.
There were no deaths or severe outcomes among the vaccinated group of trial participants due to COVID-19 or related conditions such as Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C).
Is it safe?
Banerjee said the Canadian trials found side effects common to all vaccines, but nothing serious.
“In the study they had placebo groups and they had vaccinated groups – they had 5,500 children in the study. There were no serious side effects from the vaccine, there was irritability, crying, but no serious side effects related to the vaccine.
“Overall, there were no side effects in the older child groups. Myocarditis has occurred in certain age groups, but overall the vaccine is safe.’
Will it reduce cases of Long-COVID?
The shot is likely to reduce the incidence of persistent symptoms of COVID-19 in young children, as it does in adults around the world.
A review this year by the UK’s Health Security Agency found that fully vaccinated people were about half as likely to see symptoms of ongoing COVID compared to unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people.
Add Comment