Canada has become the first country to authorize the use of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for children between the ages of 12 and 15.
Canada’s health ministry made the decision based on data from phase three clinical trials on children that age.
“The department determined that this vaccine is safe and effective when used in this younger age group,” an adviser at the ministry said in a press conference Tuesday.
Canada has already authorized the use of the Pfizer vaccine in people over 16.
Children’s risk of becoming very ill or dying with Covid-19 is minimal and throughout the pandemic they have very rarely needed hospital treatment yet the country has recorded more than 1.2 million coronavirus cases and roughly 20% of those have been in people under the age of 19.
