(Ottawa) « Si et quand » le vaccin pédiatrique de Pfizer-BioNTech est approuvé par Santé Canada, on recevra au pays près de 3 millions de doses, soit suffisamment pour injecter une première dose à tous les enfants de 5 à 11 ans, a annoncé Justin Trudeau.
Cette annonce faisait partie du bouquet de mesures qu’annonçait jeudi le premier ministre en conférence de presse dans le stationnement de l’hôpital pour enfants d’Ottawa.
Il a souligné que le fédéral avait conclu cette entente garantissant la livraison de millions de doses « très peu après » une possible approbation de Santé Canada à la demande déposée par Pfizer en début de semaine.
« C’est une bonne nouvelle », s’est réjoui Justin Trudeau en insistant sur le fait que Santé Canada prendrait le « temps nécessaire pour s’assurer que [le vaccin] is safe and efficient ”.
Because “all parents want their children to be safe, but they do not want to take risks either”, he continued.
Shortly thereafter, the office of Supply Minister Anita Anand provided additional details in a press release.
“I am pleased to announce today that Canada will receive 2.9 million doses of Pfizer’s pediatric vaccine soon after its approval by Health Canada,” she said.
“These deliveries will provide sufficient supplies to provide a first dose for each eligible Canadian child,” continued Minister Anand.
Pfizer-BioNTech’s pediatric vaccine recipe is no different from that for adults, but it should be more diluted.
The pharmaceutical’s request last Monday is based on data from clinical trials in which two 10-microgram doses of the vaccine were administered to 2,268 participants aged 5 to 11.
The results are comparable to those of a study previously conducted in people 16 to 25 years old given doses of 30 micrograms.
As the start of this new phase of the vaccination campaign approaches, many parents are showing some skepticism in Quebec.
More than a quarter of Quebec parents do not intend to vaccinate their children aged 5 to 11, according to the INSPQ.
It is not known how long the Health Canada assessment process will take.
Prime Minister François Legault has made the vaccination of children in this age group a milestone in the health crisis.
In the opening speech of the new parliamentary session on Tuesday, he signaled that once the mission is accomplished, around the beginning of 2022, the state of health emergency should be lifted.