Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine approved for Canadians 12 to 17 | CBC News

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was approved for Canadians in that age cohort previously, in early May.

Since then, Health Canada estimates that as of Aug. 14, nearly 76 per cent of Canadians aged 12 to 17 had received at least one dose of that vaccine, with 58.5 per cent fully vaccinated. Some provinces have allowed for the inoculation of kids who are in their 12th year but yet to have their birthday.

The fully vaccinated rate in the age group was actually higher than the 18 to 29 rate (57.9 per cent), as provinces and regional public health units have tried to persuade young adults to take up the shots.

WATCH | Assessing the reports of myocarditis: 

Benefits of COVID-19 vaccine outweigh low risk of heart inflammation, experts say

A small number of cases of heart inflammation — specifically, myocarditis and pericarditis — have occurred in teens and young adults following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination, but experts say the benefits of a vaccine far outweigh the risk. 2:00

Health Canada earlier this summer added labels on both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines advising of rare and usually mild reports of myocarditis and pericarditis, heart inflammation conditions. The incidence has predominantly been in males under the age of 30, but experts have said that COVID-19 is much more likely statistically to lead to those types of inflammation than either vaccine.

Health officials around the world are watching closely for any evidence of waning vaccine effectiveness in the face of the dominant delta coronavirus variants, with one study from the Mayo Clinic earlier this month suggesting that Moderna’s doses may be slightly more effective at preventing serious illness in delta cases.

Both Pfizer and Moderna are conducting trials testing the effectiveness of their COVID-19 vaccines in kids under the age of 12. Pfizer has said that it expected to send its trial data to U.S. regulators in September.

While Canada and the U.S. haven’t necessarily moved in lock-step as to giving the go-ahead to COVID-19 vaccines, the top official from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Washington said in the past week that any vaccine approval for the youngest of children might be a few months away.

“I got to be honest, I don’t see approval for kids five to 11 coming much before the end of 2021,” NIH director Francis Collins told NPR in an interview.

The White House coronavirus task force on Friday heralded the fact that 50 per cent of those 12 to 17 in the U.S. have now received at least one vaccine dose, slightly behind Canada’s pace even though the academic year has already begun for many American schoolchildren.

Given the concerns about delta and the fact kids under 12 are not eligible to be vaccinated, many Canadian provinces or school districts in recent days have decided to make mask wearing in class compulsory for the youngest of schoolchildren to begin in September.