Alberta parents looking to get their children additional protection in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will have more options starting Thursday.
In a social media thread Wednesday, chief medical officer of health Dr. Mark Joffe announced the Pfizer bivalent mRNA vaccine booster – effective against the wild type and BA.4/BA.5 subvariants – will be available for children aged five to 11. The Novavax protein-based vaccine will be available for a primary series or as a booster for youth aged 12 to 17.
Both shots will be available at AHS public health clinics by calling Health Link at 811 or online. Due to limited quantities of Novavax, the protein-based pediatric vaccination will be available at select AHS clinics and not at pharmacies or community medical clinics.
Dr. Sam Wong, president of the Alberta Medical Association’s pediatrics section, said the Pfizer bivalent doses have been particularly effective, but he wasn’t well-read on the Novavax results.
“The Pfizer bivalent numbers look good, even with the new variants that are coming out,” Wong said. “It’s not as good as it was against the wild type (of COVID-19), but certainly it’s still better than not having it.”
The distribution of the Pfizer bivalent doses comes nearly a month after Health Canada approved the bivalent booster for kids aged five to 11 years old on Dec. 9, 2022.
On Dec. 7, 2022, Novavax announced it received federal approval for use in adolescents after it was also approved for use in the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union.
The COVID vaccination rate for Alberta children remains at the back of the pack nationwide.
According to the latest federal figures, only 36.3 per cent of Albertans aged five to 11 and only 78.4 per cent of kids 12 to 17 have received a primary series of two doses. Nationally, those figures are 41.3 and 80.4 per cent, respectively.
Booster doses in Alberta have had even less uptake. Of children aged five to 11, 4.3 per cent have had a third dose, along with 15.8 per cent of kids aged 12 to 17. Canada-wide, those numbers rise to 6.2 per cent and 18.4 per cent respectively.
Experts say vaccination against COVID-19 is most effective in preventing severe disease and hospitalization, in addition to helping reduce transmission of the virus.
Wong said hospitals were put under extraordinary stress in late 2022 and many health-care workers are burned out after years of being called in for overtime.
“We’re hoping that people will take simple public health measures like masking in public or if they’re sick, not to go out. If they have to go out to mask, (and) try and decrease the number of social interactions if possible,” the pediatrician said.
“We want to try and make sure that the system is there for people who do get sick, for their kids who do get sick, and that we can provide quality health care to those kids.”