The Canadian Ministry of Health has approved the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine today for use in children aged six months to four years.

The federal administration says after a comprehensive and independent scientific review of the evidence, it concluded that the benefits of Pfizer-BioNTech's Comirnaty vaccine outweigh the potential risks for children and it is the second vaccine approved for this age group, after the Canadian Ministry of Health approved the Moderna Spikevax dose in July.

The Canadian Ministry of Health says it approves a series of three primary doses of the vaccine for children under five years old, with three weeks between the first and second doses and eight weeks between the second and third doses.

The government has also recently approved the latest version of the Moderna vaccine targeting the Omicron variant of COVID-19, but it has not yet been approved for use in young children.