Vaccines for children under 12 could come with the return to school
Windsor-Essex students will return to class in less than six weeks and efforts are going strong to get as many students vaccinated as quickly as possible.
Ontario’s top doctor confirmed Wednesday the province is already working on a plan to administer the vaccines to children, if and when they are approved for that age group.
“We know that the trials are finishing up, that they’ll have the results to decision-makers for in the US and Canada in the early fall, and that’s a potential licensure under the emergency use agreement for late fall, early winter,” says Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario chief medical officer of health.
Both Pfizer and Moderna started testing their COVID-19 vaccines in children aged six months to 11 years back in March, and Moderna announced Tuesday it plans to expand the size of those trials.
Patricia Gauthier from Moderna Canada says the good news is that the kids COVID-19 study will have sites in Canada, so there will be Canadian children included in this study.
The results from both studies are expected to be published at the end of the summer, or in the early fall.
Health Canada tells CTV News, “the Department is open to reviewing manufacturers’ submissions and will only issue a decision following a thorough scientific review of the vaccine’s safety and efficacy in this younger age group.”
Experts say vaccinating kids could also help achieve herd immunity more broadly since the Delta variant could require as much as 90 per cent of the population to be vaccinated to stop the spread.
Although kids under 12 will likely return to class in September without access to COVID-19 vaccines, that protection could come within just a few months of the start of school.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Average hourly wage in Canada now $34.95: StatCan
Average hourly wages among Canadian employees rose to $34.95 on a year-over-year basis in April, a 4.7 per cent increase, according to a Statistics Canada report released Friday morning.
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
This iconic Canadian song is turning 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Toronto police called to Drake's Bridle Path mansion for another alleged intruder on Thursday
Toronto police say a man who allegedly attempted to access Drake’s Bridle Path property was taken to hospital on Thursday after an altercation with security guards.
Flat tire on a highway? Here's why you shouldn't try to fix it
If you're cruising down a highway and realize you have a flat tire, you may want to think twice before stopping to fix it on the side of the road.
Storm-battered U.S. South is again under threat. A boy swept into a drain fights for his life
Dangerous storms crashed over parts of the U.S. South on Thursday even as the region cleaned up from earlier severe weather that spawned tornadoes, killed at least three people, and gravely injured a boy who was swept into a storm drain as he played in a flooded street.
Broadcaster and commentator Rex Murphy dead at 77: National Post
The National Post is reporting that Rex Murphy, the pundit and columnist who hosted a national call-in radio show for decades, has died.