Pfizer’s bivalent COVID booster approved for children 5 to 11

A Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent COVID-19 vaccine booster has been approved for use in children ages five to 11. Charline Close reports.

Health Canada has approved a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine booster for use in children ages five to 11, which targets the original strain of the coronavirus and more recent variants.

It is the first bivalent COVID booster authorized for use in that age group that targets the original strain of the virus as well as recent Omicron subvariants.

Health Canada previously authorized the booster for people 12 and older in October.

“While the formulation for children five to 11 years of age is the same, the dose is one-third of that authorized for individuals 12 years of age and older,” reads a release from Health Canada.

The vaccine can be given three to six months after a second dose of the primary vaccine series, or the most recent booster shot.

Pfizer’s bivalent shot is the second combination vaccine greenlighted by Health Canada’s vaccine review team, but the first that targets the virus strains that are now most common in Canada.

The Moderna combination shot approved earlier this year ago targets the original virus and the first Omicron variant. The Pfizer shot targets the BA.4 and BA.5 strains.


With files from The Canadian Press

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