Canada authorizes Pfizer COVID booster for 16- and 17-year-olds

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Canada on Wednesday approved a single booster shot of Pfizer and accomplice BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for 16- and 17-year-olds.

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Regulator Well being Canada had cleared an additional dose of the vaccine for folks 18 and older in November final yr. The booster is supposed to be administered six months after the first two-dose sequence.

The choice was primarily based on knowledge from two research of the booster shot amongst people 16 and older. The company stated potential dangers of inflammatory coronary heart situations, myocarditis or pericarditis, have been included within the shot’s label.

The circumstances have been reported after administration of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s COVID-19 shot, particularly amongst younger males. Well being Canada had approved a main sequence of Pfizer’s shot for these 16 and older in December 2020.

In the US, a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, branded Comirnaty, is cleared to be used amongst youngsters as younger as 5 years.