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‘Major step forward’: US gives final approval of Pfizer’s Covid vaccine for children aged 5-11
A top US health agency granted final approval on Tuesday to Pfizer-BioNTech’s paediatric vaccine against Covid-19 for 5 to 11 years old, clearing the way for inoculating 28 million children starting “as soon as possible”.
A top US health agency granted final approval on Tuesday to Pfizer-BioNTech’s paediatric vaccine against Covid-19 for 5 to 11 years old, clearing the way for inoculating 28 million children starting “as soon as possible”.
President Joe Biden called Pfizer’s approval by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) a “turning point’ in the battle against Covid-19, saying, “It will allow parents to end months of anxious worrying about their kids, and reduce the extent to which children spread the virus to others. It is a major step forward for our nation in our fight to defeat the virus.”
The CDC said the vaccination of children could begin “as soon as possible”. Distribution of the paediatric vaccine has already begun and plans afoot to scale up to full capacity starting on November 8, CDC said, adding that vaccines will be available at multiple locations, including paediatric health care provider offices, pharmacies, Federally Qualified Health Centers (HRSA).
“Together, with science leading the charge, we have taken another important step forward in our nation’s fight against the virus that causes Covid-19,” said CDC head Rochelle Walensky. “As a mom, I encourage parents with questions to talk to their paediatrician, school nurse or local pharmacist to learn more about the vaccine and the importance of getting their children vaccinated.”
Pfizer’s paediatric vaccine was nearly 91% effective in preventing Covid-19 among children aged 5-11 years in clinical trials, same as for the vaccine fro adults and adolescents. Vaccine side effects were mild, self-limiting, and similar to those seen in adults and with other vaccines recommended for children, CDC said. The most common side effect was a sore arm.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had cleared the paediatric vaccine earlier. It’s the same Pfizer vaccine but the dosage is a third of what is administered to adults and teens. It will be administered in same regimen: two shots three weeks apart, but using a smaller needle.
Covid-19 cases among children are known to result in hospitalizations, deaths, MIS-C (inflammatory syndromes) and long-term complications, such as “long Covid,” in which symptoms can linger for months, the CDC has said.
The spread of the more transmissible Delta variant during past summer led to a surge in in Covid-19 cases in children. The CDC said that during a six-week period in late June to mid-August, Covid-19 cases among children spiked five fold.
With the CDC clearance, the US becomes one of the few countries to be inoculating children. Among countries using other Covid-19 vaccines in children under 12 is China, which just began vaccinations for 3-year-olds, according to Associated Press news agency.
