Pfizer Pharmaceuticals and BioNTech have made public data from their own research showing that their vaccines for children ages 5-11 years old are effective in preventing symptoms of coronavirus infections.
The vaccine is administered in a lower dose than that used for people aged 12 and older. is nearly 91 percent effective at preventing kids from contracting COVID-19Friday, the companies stated.
Companies also noted that vaccines were effective in young children. developed antibodies to fight off coronavirus at levels that were just as strongas has been shown in adolescents and young adults following vaccination.
Data from the companies’ study on the efficacy of their vaccine was submitted to the Food and Drug AdministrationThe Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will now consider granting emergency use authorization to the shots. The final decision on whether the vaccine is allowed to be administered to children in the United States will come down to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The decision on the matter will be made sometime in November or later. If approved, the vaccine would begin being administered to kids between those ages, though it’s not expected that mass vaccination sites will return. Instead, the Biden administration is proposing that pharmacies, children’s hospitals and doctors’ offices become the main places where children are vaccinated.
If the vaccines are available by November 1, it could mean tens of millions of children could be fully vaccinated for protection against COVID-19 by the year’s end.
Parents are concerned about their children getting coronavirus symptoms when they return to school or other settings. This vaccine is likely to make them happy. While young children are less likely to contract coronavirus or require hospitalization than teens or adults are, that doesn’t mean children can’t be harmed by the virus.
Coronavirus has claimed the lives and limbs of more than 630 children below the age of 18 since the beginning of the pandemic. data from the CDC has shown.
Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, called the deaths of children in the U.S. an “embarrassment”This was during a town hall discussion on vaccines that took place earlier this month. He said that the country no longer had any excuses after the release of a vaccine for children.
“No parent should have to lose their child to a vaccine-preventable illness if we have a vaccine that can be deployed that is safe and effective,” Marks said. “And we will only allow something to be authorized that we find to be safe and effective.”
