Pfizer urges US to allow COVID jabs for children under 5 | Coronavirus Plague News

US pharmaceutical company Pfizer has asked the United States to approve a low dose of COVID-19 vaccine for children under five, which could open the way for the youngest Americans to receive the first shot in March.

Surprisingly, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) encouraged Pfizer and its partner BioNTech to hire earlier than the companies had planned.

The 19 million nationals under the age of five are the only group not eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine in the US, and many parents have been insisting on shooting for toddlers and students, especially as Omicron wave posted. writes youth statistics at the hospital.

If FDA approves, Pfizer jabs containing one-tenth of the dose given to adults may be given to six-month-olds.

Pfizer said Tuesday he began submitting his notices to the FDA and is expected to complete the work in a few days.

The open question is how many jabs young people will need. Pfizer is attempting to shoot three times after the two lowest levels were strong enough for infants but not for schoolchildren, and the results of this study are not expected until the end of March.

This means that the FDA may consider allowing two shots at a time, whereas a third shot will be removed later if the study is helpful.

The FDA said on Tuesday it would summon a team of independent researchers and physicians in mid-February to help review Pfizer. The organization does not need to follow the advice of the facilitator but its contribution is an important part of evaluating the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine.

A major FDA idea may come later this month but that is not the only problem. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) must also sign.

Biden government has been trying to speed up the approval of COVID-19 to shoot children, arguing The vaccine is very effective the opening and opening of schools and childcare centers, as well as the release of parents from child care services to return to work.

However, vaccination rates have been lower among children than in other age groups.

By last week, only 20 percent of children aged 5 to 11 and more than half of 12- to 17-year-olds had received adequate vaccination, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). About three quarters of adults have a complete vaccination in the US.

Although young children are significantly lower than adults who are more likely to be infected with coronavirus, they can occur, and childhood infections of COVID-19 are higher than at any other time in history. plague.

“What we are seeing right now is a lot of medical and unfortunately for some people this age,” said Dr Sean O’Leary of the University of Colorado, who is on the AAP Infectious Diseases Committee.

If the FDA removes the vaccine for these children, “it will be very important because all hospitals and deaths are ineffective,” he said.

For children under 5 years of age, Pfizer study gives students shot twice three weeks apart, followed by a third dose after two months. The company is testing whether the teens are producing antibodies similar to those known to protect young and old.

In December, Pfizer announced that children under the age of two appeared to be safe but the antibody response was significantly lower in children aged two to four years. It is not clear why, but one possibility is that the minimum rate was too low for students.

Since preliminary results showed that the shot was safe, Pfizer added a third level of testing and hoped to improve safety.

Considering how agents are working for seniors, it “makes sense” for young children to benefit from a third shot, O’Leary said. “I can understand where the company and the FDA are coming from wanting to move this, I hope there will be a third level in this line.”