Health Canada is reviewing the first request to approve a COVID-19 vaccine for very young kids.
The Moderna application is for children between the ages of six months and five years old.
The company says a trial of 6,700 children determined the vaccine was safe and produced a similar antibody response to the one that is seen in adults.
A single dose for children under six is 25 micrograms — one-quarter of the size given to adults and teenagers and half the size used for children ages six to 11.
Health Canada received Moderna’s application this morning after the company made a similar request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday.
The trial took place mainly during the wave of the Omicron variant and the vaccine was less effective at preventing infection in kids than in previous trials in adults.
Dr. Bill Hartman, a principal investigator on the Moderna trials underway with a team at the University of Wisconsin.
“There was no severe disease or hospitalizations observed within the trial. But we did see some infections. Overall infection in these kids tended to be pretty mild, even in this time of Omicron.”
The announcement comes as coronavirus cases climb in British Columbia.
On April 21, there were 485 British Columbians in hospital with the deadly virus. That number has now climbed 570 — 76 of those in the Island Health region — while the number of people in critical care is up to 47, with seven of those in Island Health.
Dr. Sarah Otto, a mathematical biologist at the University of British Columbia and part of the BC COVID-19 Modelling Group, said the number of people in hospital is rising at a rate faster than at any previous point in the pandemic.
“The number of people in hospital is rising, it is now at a higher point than it has through the entire pandemic, with the exception of the first Omicron wave. So we’re over 500 people in hospital with COVID at the moment. And the deaths are rising as well”
Otto’s concerns are detailed in the group’s latest report. She said a key concern is children, who are showing up in hospital in greater numbers than ever before during the pandemic.
“We are seeing pediatric hospitalizations in B.C. really rising. Protecting our children by allowing their immune systems to learn from a part of this virus rather than a whole virus, and the infections that result, is, I think, a smart move.”
With files from The Canadian Press
Mary Griffin
