Original Title: The number of children infected in the United States continues to rise
Pfizer Pharmaceuticals of the United States said on the 7th that it has formally applied to the US Food and Drug Administration for the emergency use of the new crown vaccine jointly developed by this company and the German biotech company for children aged 5 to 11.
Pfizer wrote on social media: “As the number of new child cases in the United States remains high, making this application is an important step in our efforts to fight the new coronavirus.”
In an interview with CNN, the White House Coordinator for the Coordinator of the New Crown Epidemic, Jeff Zinc, said in an interview with CNN that Pfizer’s application is expected to be approved in late November, and sufficient supply of vaccines will be guaranteed by then.
Pfizer announced on the 20th of last month that this vaccine is suitable for children aged 5 to 11 and began to submit relevant data to the US Drug Administration. According to the Associated Press, Pfizer previously conducted clinical trials to vaccinate 2,268 kindergarten and elementary school children at a dose of one-third of those over 12 years of age. According to Pfizer, these 5 to 11-year-old children produced antibodies after receiving two doses of the vaccine. The immune effect was the same as that of teenagers who received the normal dose of the vaccine, and there were no serious side effects.
The US Food and Drug Administration said last week that an advisory committee composed of outside experts was scheduled to meet on the 26th to discuss emergency use of Pfizer vaccines. This means that approximately 28 million children aged 5 to 11 in the United States are expected to start vaccination.
Pfizer and German Biotech are also developing new crown vaccines for children between two and five years old and infants and young children between six months and two years old. Results are expected to be available within the year.
With the spread of the mutated new coronavirus delta strain, the number of children with new crowns in the United States continues to rise. According to data released by the American Academy of Pediatrics, as of September 30, a total of nearly 5.9 million children in the United States have tested positive for the new crown virus, and at least 520 children have died from the infection. From September 23 to September 30, there were more than 170,000 new confirmed cases of children, accounting for about 26.7% of the new cases in the United States that week.
The United States previously approved the Pfizer vaccine for emergency use in children aged 12 to 15. Epidemic prevention experts worry that since the beginning of the fall school, as the temperature drops and campus indoor activities increase, the number of children infected with the new crown in the United States may increase sharply in the next few weeks or even months. According to Reuters analysis, approval of the vaccination of young children as soon as possible will help alleviate the epidemic.
Although it is rare for children to become severely ill after being infected, they may still be infected and spread the virus further. Experts believe that child vaccination is essential to help form herd immunity. (Li Yannan