Alberta is now accepting bookings for COVID-19 vaccinations and administering the shots for children ages six months to five years.
A girl gets a shot of the CoronaVac vaccine on the first day of a COVID-19 vaccination campaign for children ages 3 and 4 at a vaccination center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, July 15, 2022. Health Canada Alberta is the last jurisdiction in the country to open up vaccine eligibility to the age group, making the The recommended dose for children ages six months to 11 years is a series of two doses, with an interval of at least two months between each shot.
Health Canada says it will continue to keep a close eye on the vaccine's safety, and Moderna is required to provide updated data on the vaccine's effectiveness and safety. There is still little information about the risk of rare reactions like myocarditis, but no cases were identified during the trials. Instead, the most common responses were similar to the ones children experience for other pediatric vaccines, including pain at the site of the injection, sleepiness and loss of appetite.
The announcement means approximately 234,000 more Albertans are now eligible for the COVID-19 shot, and all Canadian provinces have begun booking vaccine appointments for young children.With files from CTV News Edmonton and The Canadian Press