Teens in Ontario aged 12 and up are now eligible to get their COVID-19 vaccine after the expansion to include teens was announced by the Ford government on Sunday morning.
Youths can directly go to pop-up clinics and public health units.
The decision reflects “changes are at the request of some public health units to remove barriers for families requesting vaccines.”
Right now, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is the only one that is authorized by Health Canada. Moderna Inc. today sought authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its vaccine to be used on teens aged 12 and 17 after doing a month-long study on more than 3,000 youths.
At the third phase of its trial, the company found it 94.1 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19.
“We are encouraged that mRNA-1273 was highly effective at preventing COVID-19 in adolescents,” said Stéphane Bancel, chief executive officer of Moderna.
Health Canada has yet to confirm whether the Moderna vaccine will be used for shots in the arm.
As of May 20, more than seven million vaccine doses have been administered to adults across the province. Today, Toronto reached a milestone of vaccinating 65 per cent of adults with one dose.
In a statement, Mayor John Tory thanked residents who stepped up to get their shot.
“I encourage all residents to get vaccinated as soon as they can to protect themselves and their loved ones,” he said.
Every vaccine dose is a step closer to reopening the city but parents are still confused as to when in-person learning will open for schools.
In the news conference today, Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Williams said he’s been encouraging schools to open as soon as possible.
“As for the decision when that’s going to be, that really is a decision that has to be made at the cabinet level.”