Pfizer : Covid vaccine safe for kids aged 5 – 11
Pfizer said on Monday, its COVID-19 vaccine works for children aged 5 to 11 and that it will seek U.S. authorisation for this age group soon, a key step toward beginning vaccinations for youngsters.
Giving a two-dose regimen of 10 μg (micrograms) administered 21 days apart for children between 5 and 11 years old was well tolerated, according to Pfizer and BioNTech. Side effects were also generally comparable to those of people between the ages of 16 and 25 years old who received the vaccine.
Pfizer said it studied the lower dose in 2,268 kindergartners and elementary school-aged kids. The FDA required what is called an immune “bridging” study: evidence that the younger children developed antibody levels already proven to be protective in teens and adults.
Pfizer and BioNTech are also trialling their vaccine on infants aged six months to two years, and on children aged two to five. All together, up to 4,500 children aged six months to 11 years have enrolled in the Pfizer-BioNTech trials in the US, Finland, Poland and Spain.
