FDA approves Pfizer vaccine for kids

OTTAWA - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11, and Canada could be close behind.

The FDA confirmed the vaccine was more than 90 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19 in children and found no serious side-effects.

The FDA advisory committee recommended in favour of approving the vaccine after hours of testimony from experts.

Dr. Supriya Sharma, chief medical adviser at Health Canada, said Canadian officials attended that meeting and are watching the process in the U.S. carefully as Canada makes its own decision about the pediatric vaccine.

Sharma said it could still be a few weeks until Health Canada makes a final decision.

Earlier this week Patricia Gauthier, the general manager of Moderna Canada, said the company expects to submit its own kids' vaccine for Health Canada approval soon.