Home » USA, FDA experts also recommend Pfizer for children between five and 11 years old

USA, FDA experts also recommend Pfizer for children between five and 11 years old

by admin

From the United States, a first authoritative opinion arrives in favor of administering Pfizer’s anti-Covid vaccine to children between 5 and 11 years old. To declare its effectiveness and safety is the committee of experts of the FDA – the Food and Drug Administration -, which after a seven-hour meeting decided to recommend the serum, with 17 positive votes and one abstention. Final authorization is now awaited, but the opinion of the committee is seldom not accepted by the government body. The US could, therefore, become the first Western country to vaccinate children against Covid-19.

For the committee, the advantages of administering Pfizer / BioNTech outweigh the risks even in the case of the age group considered, currently excluded from vaccinations. There is a total of 28 million people in the US, most of them of school age. The two doses to be inoculated would be 10 micrograms each, one third of that intended for adults, to be administered three weeks apart.

Vaccination of the little ones could prove to be fundamental in the fight against the virus, given that, although the youngest become less seriously ill or die more rarely from Covid than adults, they are not immune from complications. Furthermore, the spread of the more dangerous and transmissible Delta variant is the cause of greater infections in children: during the pandemic, almost one hundred died in the US, almost two million were infected and 8,300 were hospitalized.

Four days ago Pfizer – which already on 7 October had requested authorization for the emergency use of the vaccine in children – had made public its data on children between 5 and 11 years ago, after an experiment conducted on 2 thousand minors, revealing how the vaccine is 90.7% effective. Clinical trials revealed a strong immune response in children, comparable to antibody levels seen in previous studies involving participants aged 16-25. The difference is only in the micrograms of the vaccine. Side effects are also similar, but they tend to be even milder than those seen in young adults. At higher doses, however, the researchers observed more side effects, including fever, headache and fatigue, although no severe symptoms.

See also  an interview with Yasmeen Elagha – breaking news

At the moment, the FDA authorizes the use of the vaccine – not only Pfizer, but also others – only from 12 years upwards, but from November 1st it could extend it even below that age. The decision is not yet certain, as the institution is not obliged to follow the advice of its external consultants. If confirmed, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will confirm the authorization for immunization in this age group. The committee of consultants of the CDC will meet between 2 and 3 November to review the data, then it will be the director of the agency, Rochelle Wallensky, who will have the last word.

You may also like

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More

Privacy & Cookies Policy