On Wednesday, health Canada approved the Pfizer vaccine for youth 12-15, encouraging a promise to reopen schools in September.

Among the big three, Pfizer is the first to start approval with administering the vaccine to those under age 16, and test have been conducted in the US to over 2000 youth. Moderna and AstraZeneca still have not been approved for anyone under the ages of 18.

As youth have been in and out of school for the past year this news comes as a relief to many parents wanting their children back in classrooms and off the computers. Health Canada proposes to have the first dose administer now, and hopefully be fully vaccinated with the second dose before the new school year in September.

Ottawa Citizen

With the news of ages 12-15 year olds, it is expected that Pfizer will submit and order for those ages 5-11 to go through clinical trials of the vaccine. As for the others, Moderna is hoping to put in an order for ages 12-18 while AstraZeneca and Janssen is still only approved from those older than 18.

As trials continue and numbers still waver among different areas throughout Canada it is shown that only 20% of cases are of those under the age of 19. As the health organizations know that COVID-19 is milder and less frequent for youth, it is still encouraged that any youth with high risk health issues get the vaccine.

The vaccine roll out for youth starting now is a good sign that Canada is on track to opening the country again and battling the pandemic at a steady pace. Hopefully travel, recreational, and school will be open by the end of summer.