Health Canada announced babies just six months old and up are now eligible to receive the Moderna COVID vaccine.
“Today, Health Canada authorized the use of the Moderna Spikevax COVID-19 vaccine in children 6 months to 5 years of age. This is the first COVID-19 vaccine authorized in Canada for use in this age group and marks a milestone in Canada’s response to COVID-19,” Health Canada writes.
Health Canada further stated the vaccine is “one of” the most effective ways to protect against COVID-19. However, they failed to mention any other means someone might be protected from COVID.
To this point, studies suggest that unvaccinated individuals with natural immunity are more protected against re-infection than vaccinated are from being infected the first time and are equally as protected as those with ‘hybrid immunity’ (i.e., those who got the vaccine and then got infected).
Additionally, it’s likely that most children have already developed natural immunity. Regardless, Health Canada stated that the vaccine’s benefits outweigh the risks for toddlers — but they’ll keep a close eye on things because they lack long-term data.
“Health Canada has placed terms and conditions on the authorization requiring Moderna to continue providing information to Health Canada on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine in this younger age group. This will provide the Department with more data from ongoing studies and real-world use to ensure that the benefits of the vaccine continue to outweigh any risks, as well as to detect any potential new safety signals in any age group.”
Good to know that, right? For a virus that’s about as deadly to infants as the flu is, babies can now be part of the worldwide experiment.
Unlike Canada, some countries banned Moderna for younger populations because the rate of adverse effects was too high. Perhaps their science is different than Canada’s.
Moreover, just yesterday, Ontario’s CMOH, Dr. Moore, refused to advise healthy young adults to get the 4th vaccine – despite being eligible – because the risk of adverse effects was worthy of consideration.
Much like in Canada, last fall, when deciding whether or not to authorize the vaccines for 5 to 11-year-olds, an FDA panel member infamously admitted that they won’t know if the vaccines are actually safe until after they start giving them. Nevertheless, the FDA in America went on to approve the vaccine for babies last month.
