People receive the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at the UMass Memorial Health Care COVID-19 Vaccination Center in the Mercantile Center in Worcester, Massachusetts on April 22, 2021.
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FDA expected to authorize Pfizer vaccine for ages 12-15
02:58 - Source: CNN
Ottawa CNN  — 

Children in Canada ages 12 to 15 can now get vaccinated against Covid-19.

Health Canada, the national department of health, announced Wednesday it has authorized the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for the age group.

Clinical trial results showed the vaccine had 100% efficacy and was well tolerated in youths ages 12 to 15.

A nurse administers a measles vaccine to a teenager in the school of Lapaivka village near the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on February 21, 2019. - The mobile brigade, which consists of two pediatricians and a nurse, arrived to the Lapaivka village as part of the health ministry's special operation in this region, leading in terms of registered measles cases. A measles epidemic is still not declared in Ukraine, though in 2018 the country recorded highest number of measles cases in European region. Since the start of 2019, around 20,000 people in Ukraine have contracted this highly contagious viral disease. Nine people, including two children, have died of measles in Ukraine this year. (Photo by YURIY DYACHYSHYN / AFP) (Photo by YURIY DYACHYSHYN/AFP via Getty Images)
A nurse administers a measles vaccine to a teenager in the school of Lapaivka village near the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on February 21, 2019. - The mobile brigade, which consists of two pediatricians and a nurse, arrived to the Lapaivka village as part of the health ministry's special operation in this region, leading in terms of registered measles cases. A measles epidemic is still not declared in Ukraine, though in 2018 the country recorded highest number of measles cases in European region. Since the start of 2019, around 20,000 people in Ukraine have contracted this highly contagious viral disease. Nine people, including two children, have died of measles in Ukraine this year. (Photo by YURIY DYACHYSHYN / AFP) (Photo by YURIY DYACHYSHYN/AFP via Getty Images)
YURIY DYACHYSHYN/AFP/AFP via Getty Images

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“The most commonly reported side effects were temporary and mild, like a sore arm, chills or fever,” said Dr. Supriya Sharma, Health Canada’s chief medical adviser.

While Canada’s vaccine rollout is ramping up, supply remains low, and children in this age group probably won’t be vaccinated for at least several weeks.

Further guidance on when and how to begin distributing the vaccine to children will be determined by the Public Health Agency of Canada and individual provinces and territories.

CNN’s Jamie Gumbrecht contributed to this report.