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(Adds death of person after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine,
quotes, details, background)
By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA, May 5 (Reuters) - Canada is authorizing the use of
Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine for use in children aged
12 to 15, the first doses to be allowed for people that young,
the federal health ministry said on Wednesday.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to take a
similar step "very soon," U.S. health officials said.
Supriya Sharma, a senior adviser at the Canadian federal
health ministry, said the Pfizer vaccine, produced with German
partner BioNTech SE, was safe and effective in the
younger age group.
"We are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel,"
she told a briefing.
Separately, authorities reported the third death of a
Canadian from a rare blood clot condition after receiving
AstraZeneca PLC's's COVID-19 vaccine. The man, who was
in his sixties, lived in the Atlantic province of New Brunswick.
Jennifer Russell, the chief medical officer of health in New
Brunswick, said the province would continue using the
AstraZeneca vaccine. Alberta reported a death from clotting on
Tuesday and Quebec announced one on April 27.
"There will be rare cases where thrombosis will occur.
However, the risks remain minimal compared to the risks,
complications and potential consequences of COVID-19," Russell
told reporters.
Canada's federal government has bought tens of millions of
doses of vaccines but critics complain the pace of inoculation
is lagging due to bottlenecks in the 10 provinces, which are
responsible for administering the doses.
Around 20% of the 1,249,950 cases of COVID-19 in Canada have
been reported in people under the age of 19. Canada has recorded
24,396 deaths.
(Additional reporting by Allison Martell in Toronto;
Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Sonya Hepinstall)
