Safety data won't be the only factor to consider when deciding whether or not to vaccinate young kids against COVID-19: Dr. Theresa Tam

Canada's top doctor says safety data won't be the only factor public health officials and parents will have to consider when deciding whether or not to vaccinate young kids against COVID-19.

Dr. Teresa Tam says children's risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19 are low compared to the rest of the population, but warned rare incidents can become more common as the virus spreads.

She also points to the impacts of "long COVID," which is still being studied, and the importance of limiting disruptions to school as things to consider.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization and the Public Health Agency of Canada will provide more official advice when they receive and analyze the safety and efficacy data from Pfizer and other vaccine manufacturers.

Canada's top doctor says more than six-million people still have not received one or more doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, says more than 80 per cent of eligible Canadians are fully vaccinated.

She says Canada is now seeing about 43-hundred new cases of COVID-19 per day, and the bulk of cases and severe outcomes are among the unvaccinated.