Jordan- Canada authorizes Pfizer vaccine for adolescents

(MENAFN - Jordan News Agency) Ottawa, May 6 (Petra) -- Health Canada announced that it has approved administering the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to children ages 12 to 15, after initially authorizing it for use in individuals 16 years of age and older, while the three other vaccines (AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Moderna) can be given only to people over the age of 18 for now.In a statement on Thursday, Health Canada's chief medical adviser Supriya Sharma said the new authorization is "a significant milestone in Canada's fight against the pandemic", adding that it could allow young people to safely return to school and extracurricular activities.The vaccinated adolescents also produced strong antibody responses and experienced roughly the same side effects seen in people ages 16 to 25. "The most commonly reported side effects were temporary and mild, like a sore arm, chills or fever," Sharma further said. WH06/05/2021 12:54:35 MENAFN06052021000117011021ID1102039458