Manitoba keeping eye on Pfizer vaccine for youth news; prepared for future decision
Pfizer said Monday its COVID-19 vaccine works for children ages 5 to 11, and while they haven’t applied to Health Canada for approval, Manitoba’s Vaccine Implementation Task Force’s medical lead said the province will be ready to administer vaccines to the age group.
“They’re signalling [approval] could occur in the very near future,” Dr. Joss Reimer said on Monday’s media conference.
Reimer said it was encouraging to see antibody levels and immune responses were similar to older age groups, despite using a lower dosage of the Pfizer vaccine. She added while Pfizer hasn’t provided specific data, there haven’t been any safety concerns beyond previous trials.
Health Canada has already approved the Pfizer vaccine for teenagers as young as 12.
“We’re planning to be ready in the case they do approve it in the very near future,” Reimer said.
Reimer said the task force is looking at different options in order to provide that dose upon approval, which could include school-based immunizations.
“Schools are absolutely one of the things we’re looking at as we get to younger kids,” Reimer said. “It can be a bit more challenging to offer immunizations in schools, so we’re trying to work through some of the logistics.”
Reimer said the task force is working with schools and public health teams to determine if it is feasible to have parents could accompany children when they receive their vaccines. She said they are also looking at alternative settings.
“Regardless of whether or not we offer it in schools, we will still have medical clinics, our pharmacies, and, in more remote settings, our public health teams would be offering the vaccine to younger children once it’s improved,” Reimer said.
Reimer said the province ran a vaccine clinic in a Northern Health Region school last week and said it went well. She added around 20 schools in the province will run vaccine clinics this week, but didn’t specify where.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.