Less than seven percent of Canadian children under five years old have received a COVID-19 vaccine after Health Canada approved Moderna shots for the age group almost four months ago, followed by its approval of Pfizer shots in September.
Statistics from the federal government’s website indicate that as of Oct. 9, 6.5 percent of children aged 0 to 4 have received at least one vaccine dose, and only one percent of the age group have completed their primary vaccination series.
Health Canada approved Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for children aged 6 months to 5 years old on July 14, and approved Pfizer shots for the same age group on Sept. 9.
The Moderna vaccine for the age group involves a two-dose primary series with 25 micrograms each, and is half the dose of the vaccine authorized for children 6 to 11 years of age, and one-quarter of the adult dose.
The Pfizer vaccine approved for the age group consists of a three-dose primary series of 3 micrograms each of Pfizer’s BioNTech Comirnaty vaccine.
In July, Health Canada’s chief medical advisor also noted that Moderna is studying booster doses for children under six years old.
“Moderna has indicated plans to study a booster dose for children under six years of age targeting the Omicron variant and the original strain of the virus,” said Dr. Supriya Sharma during a virtual briefing on July 14.
Adult Booster Stats
The federal government implemented a national vaccine booster campaign in early September, but statistics show that less than 20 percent of Canadians aged 12 and older have received a booster dose in the last six months.Government data as of Oct. 9 shows that 19 percent of Canadians older than 12 have either “completed the primary series or received a booster dose” in the last six months, and 18.1 percent of Canadians five and up have been boosted in that time frame.
Statistics further show that younger Canadians have been significantly less inclined than older Canadians to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in the last six months. Just 5.7 percent of Canadians aged between 18 and 29 have received a booster since the summer, while 17.7 percent of those aged between 50 and 59 have updated their vaccinations over the same time period.
Isaac Teo and Andrew Chen contributed to this report.
