Thu. Sep 19th, 2024

Canada Expected to Finish Review of COVID-19 Vaccine for Young Kids as U.S Authorizes Shots for Infants and Preschoolers

Regulators should reach a decision about whether to approve Canada’s first COVID-19 vaccine for infants and preschoolers in coming weeks, as the United States prepares to roll out tot-sized shots.

The advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention unanimously decided that coronavirus vaccines should be made available to children as young as 6 months, offering protection from hospitalizations, deaths and possible long-term complications that are still not clearly understood.

U.S. regulators on Friday authorized the first COVID-19 shots for infants and preschoolers, paving the way for vaccinations to begin next week.

Will parents be eager to get their youngest vaccinated? By some estimates, three-quarters of all U.S. children have already been infected, and only about 30% of children aged 5 to 11 have gotten vaccinated since Pfizer’s shots opened to them last November.

Canada has yet to authorize a vaccine for its nearly two million children under five.

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