Health Canada finally gives green light to Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine to be used to inoculate kids as young as 12

Health Canada has finally given the green light for Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine to be used to inoculate kids as young as 12.

The original approval for Moderna in December 2020 was only for people at least 18 years old.

Moderna applied for authorization for youth in early June, citing a clinical trial of 3,700 youth in which none of the teens who got two doses developed a COVID-19 infection.

Youth as young as 12 in Canada have been authorized to receive the vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech since May 5.

As of mid-August, 75 per cent of kids in that age group had received at least one dose, and 59 per cent were fully vaccinated.

Health Canada also says the National Advisory Committee on Immunization is meeting this week to discuss whether booster shots should be offered to people with compromised immune systems.

Ontario has already begun to offer boosters to transplant recipients, people with some blood cancers and long-term care home residents.