New Brunswick will be ready to release COVID-19 vaccines to children under the age of five as soon as they are approved and available, according to the chief medical officer for health.
The province is also working on an early flu vaccination campaign in anticipation of the flu season, which is “higher than normal” this year, said Dr. Jennifer Russell.
In the United States, immunization of infants and preschool children against COVID-19 began this week after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the emergency use of Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines in six-month-old children last Friday, and control centers and Disease Prevention (CDC) recommends the use of vaccines in this age group the next day.
There is still no approved vaccine against COVID-19 for children under five in Canada. Health Canada is reviewing an application from Moderna.
“We expect Health Canada as well as NACI [National Advisory Committee on Immunization] to come up with their recommendations, “Russell said.
The province is “watching very closely,” she said, and is “ready to act against those when they pass.”
Russell could not judge when this could happen.
“But we are preparing in advance for this inevitability.”
No details yet
Implementation planning is under way, said Health Ministry spokesman Michel Guenard.
The department is working with its primary care partners, including regional health authorities, public pharmacies and the New Brunswick Medical Society, she said.
There are no other details yet, such as where the photos will be available or who will administer them.
“Final decisions will be made after Health Canada approves the vaccine,” Guenard said in an email statement. “This includes a review of the NACI statement and local considerations.”
“Guidance will be provided to those identified as immunizers for vaccinations under five years of age,” she added. “This includes sharing information from Health Canada, the vaccine provider, NACI and guidelines from New Brunswick Public Health.
“Very encouraging”
Russell called the US approval “very encouraging.”
“I think any protection we can give to the general population is very important,” she said. “It’s really one of the last songs we’ve been waiting for.”
The age group under five is the only one in the province that does not currently have vaccines against COVID-19.
Children aged 5 to 11 can be vaccinated from November.
Dr Jennifer Russell, the province’s chief health doctor, said COVID-19 vaccines were now available for New Brunswickers aged five and over, with pending approval for those under five being “one of the last pieces” that the province is waiting. (Ed Hunter / CBC)
“As we have seen in older groups, we expect that vaccines for younger children will provide protection from the worst COVID-19 outcomes, such as hospitalization and death,” FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert M. said in a statement. Caliph.
“Those who are trusted to care for children can have confidence in the safety and effectiveness of these vaccines against COVID-19 and can be sure that the agency has been thorough in its assessment of the data,” he said.
The FDA has found that the known and potential benefits of Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines “outweigh the known and potential risks to the pediatric population.”
According to clinical trials, the most commonly reported adverse reactions in children aged six months to five years include pain, redness and swelling at the injection site, fever and armpits (or groin) swelling / tenderness of the lymph nodes in the same arm ( or thigh) as an injection.
Increasing cases of influenza
A total of 52.7% of eligible New Brunswickers received a booster vaccine against COVID-19, according to this week’s COVIDWatch report, 88.1% received two doses and 93.3% received a single dose.
The province wants to have as many people protected in the fall as possible, Russell said.
The “pandemic model” is that the risks tend to decrease in the summer, when people are more outside, physically distant and increase in the fall and winter, she said.
“I think this correlation is true at the moment, but you know that we are trying to be prepared for everything that happened to us with COVID, because there are no guarantees.
“We are aware that we expect a higher than normal flu season this year, so we will launch our vaccination campaigns early.”
The red line shows an increase in the percentage of positive flu tests in New Brunswick. Yellow represents the cases of influenza A (H3), while green illustrates influenza A (subtype). (Government of New Brunswick)
New Brunswick is dealing with an unusually late flu season, due in part to the lifting of protective measures for COVID-19 in March, such as camouflage.
Usually, the flu season really starts to “take off” in January and “come out” after the warmer weather begins, said the province’s acting deputy chief medical officer, Dr. Yves Leger.
But almost a quarter of the cases this season happened in a week this month.
Seventy-three positive cases of influenza were reported in week 23, which ended on June 11, according to the latest available statistics from Public Health. Six of the cases require hospitalization.
Two new outbreaks of influenza have been reported in nursing homes and one new outbreak of influenza-like illness has been reported in schools, according to a flu surveillance report.
A total of 302 cases have been reported so far this season, which began on August 29, 2021 and lasts until August 27. That’s more than 40 just a month ago.
There are 60 hospitalizations and four deaths.
“Double” risk
If the risks of transmitting COVID-19 increase in the fall, while the risks of influenza are expected to increase, “then we have, you know, a double type of risk,” Russell said.
“So we want to deal with this early and make sure that anyone who qualifies for the flu vaccine will also be vaccinated.”
The province also “very much wants” to have people who are lagging behind with their routine vaccinations to catch them, she said.
“We wouldn’t want to see a resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases.”
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