Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Health Canada approved a COVID-19 vaccine booster for children on Friday that targets more recent variants of the coronavirus, along with the original strain.
The Pfizer-BioNTech "bivalent" shot protects against the most prevalent subvariants of Omicron, BA.4 and BA.5, and is the first approved for use in children ages five to 11.
In a press release, Health Canada said that after the thorough review it has found the vaccine is safe and effective and that its benefits outweigh any potential risks when used as a booster dose.
The child-sized dose is about a third of the dose that is approved for people over the age of 12.
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization strongly recommends children with weakened immune systems or underlying medical conditions be offered a dose of the new vaccine at least six months after they receive their first two COVID-19 shots.
The recommendation for other children in that age group is more discretionary, and NACI suggests the bivalent booster "may be" offered.
For now, kids five to 11 are only recommended to get one COVID-19 booster shot, though NACI says an extra booster could be considered at the discretion of family doctors for children who are at higher risk.
"At this time, it is not assumed that every child will need a COVID-19 booster dose but they are particularly important for children five years of age and older with underlying conditions that place them at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19," Dr. Shelley Deeks, chair of NACI, said a statement.
She said the new vaccine is preferred as a booster for kids because it is expected to perform at least as well as the original booster and may have extra benefits against newer variants.
The NACI recommendations noted that although about 40 per cent of children aged five to 11 have had their primary COVID-19 vaccination series, only five per cent of kids in that age group have had a booster dose and that the availability of the bivalent shot "may increase acceptance and uptake of pediatric COVID-19 vaccines."
Dr. Cora Constantinescu, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist with the Vaccine Hesitancy Clinic at Alberta Children's Hospital, said the bivalent booster will provide "more tailored protection" and could be especially beneficial for kids who have not been infected with the Omicron variant.
"Being able to have a tailored type of continued protection is reassuring for a lot of parents," Constantinescu said.
Parents who were already planning to get their children boosted will likely be the ones who seek out the bivalent shot, she said, noting that she's "not convinced" it will increase overall vaccine uptake in that age group.
NACI now also recommends that COVID-19 vaccine boosters can be given to children aged six months and older at the same time as other routine vaccines like the flu shot without a waiting period in between. Deeks said in her statement that she hopes the new recommendation will help children catch up on shots they may have missed during the pandemic.
Canada's chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, said in a statement that most children who catch COVID-19 experience only mild illness, and the risk of being hospitalized is lower for vaccinated children than those who are unvaccinated.
The Omicron wave of the pandemic has seen far more children infected with COVID-19 than previous waves, given the high level of infection overall, she said.
No unexpected safety concerns were flagged with the new vaccine in the five to 11 age group.
Pfizer-BioNTech must continue to provide data from ongoing studies and real-world use of the vaccine to Health Canada to make sure the benefits continue to outweigh any risks, and to alert the drug regulator to any new safety concerns.
Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada say they will keep a close eye on the safety of the vaccine in Canada and internationally.
-With files from Nicole Ireland in Toronto
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 9, 2022.
This report has been produced with the financial assistance of the Canadian Medical Association. It has no say in editorial choices.
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.