Covid Vaccine on younger children

Today, kids age 12 and up can get the Pfizer covid vaccine, but this will soon change. Pfizer is asking the FDA to approve Covid Vaccines for children five and up. The US food and drug administration will meet on Tuesday, 10/26, to discuss whether or not to support the covid vaccine for ages five and up. If authorized, it will become the first vaccine available for younger children. If the FDA committee votes in its favour, the FDA will then decide whether to approve it. Then, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention independent advisory committee meets on November 2 and 3 and will vote on whether to recommend it. We won't see the vaccine take place within a month or two.

The FDA says the vaccine is 90.7% effective for children five and up. FDA said the benefits of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine outweigh the risks to children ages 5 to 11 under current pandemic conditions. The FDA said the vaccine carries a theoretical risk of myocarditis or pericarditis that could require treatment and even hospitalization but the risk of Covid-19 is higher if enough virus is circulating.

CNN reports that nearly 6.2 Million children have tested positive for Covid-19 since the pandemic started in April 2020. Cases have been decreasing, but there is still a large number of children testing positive for Covid-19. CNN reports that just this past week, 131,000 more children have tested positive. Parents and Pediatricians are asking for this vaccine to be approved to protect their younger children.

In September, CNN reports data Pfizer submitted from a Phase 2/3 trial showed its Covid-19 vaccines generated a "robust" antibody response in children ages 5 to 11. During that trial, which involved 2,000 children, there were 3 cases of Covid-19 among the group.

The FDA reports that if everything goes well, the vaccine for younger children will only be offered by their primary care doctor. We have seen many places open for adults to get the covid vaccine, but the FDA knows this will not work for younger children to be in long lines. The FDA is figuring out if it would be a good idea for school clinics to offer the vaccine to parents for their children. The FDA wants the vaccine to be available in places that parents can trust.

As the holidays are coming, and families will be coming together to celebrate, Pfizer hopes the vaccine gets approved by the FDA so younger children can be safe during the holidays.