Canada approves Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for kids under 5

Health Canada Friday approved Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for use in children under 5 years old.

The federal health department updated information of the approved COVID-19 vaccines on its website saying that available data supported the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine in preventing COVID-19 in the age group of six months through four years.

The benefit-risk profile of the vaccine was considered favorable in that age group for use as a 3-dose primary series with two doses given three weeks apart followed by a third dose given at least eight weeks after the second dose.

It's the second vaccine approved for that age group after Health Canada approved Moderna's Spikevax in July.

Last week Health Canada approved an adapted version of the Moderna Spikevax COVID-19 vaccine, known as a bivalent vaccine, to target both the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and the Omicron (BA.1) variant as a booster dose in individuals aged 18 and above.