U.S. FDA advisers back Pfizer/BioNTech covid vaccine for children but with lower dose–check details here

China, Cuba and the United Arab Emirates are some of the few countries that have cleared covid vaccines for children (Photo: IE)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized the Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and BioNTech SE COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 as it says the benefits of the vaccine outweighs the risks associated with it. The authorisation would be an important regulatory step as it will help reach about 28 million children and get them inoculated. As per the media reports, the vaccine is most likely to reach the younger age group in next week. The FDA is not mandatorily supposed to follow the advice of its outside experts, but usually does to. The vote in favor of the vaccine was 17 against who was not in the favour,

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will meet next week if the FDA authorises the vaccine for the said age group. The meeting will make recommendations on the administration of covid vaccine. The final call would be taken by the CDC director.

Although unvaccinated children are not dying or becoming seriously ill due to covid, some complications and infections have been seen in unvaccinated children due to rise of easily transmitted Delta variant of COVID-19. So far, 500 U.S. children have died due to coronavirus, data from the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests. Delta variant is, in fact, the eighth highest killer of children falling under this age group over the past year, said Dr. Amanda Cohn, a pediatric vaccine expert at the CDC, also a voting member of the panel. The vaccine will help prevent such deaths and ICU admissions. It will prevent significant long-term adverse impact in children, he added.

China, Cuba and the United Arab Emirates are some of the few countries that have cleared covid vaccines for children. Since May, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has been urging rich countries to reconsider plans to vaccinate children. They have also asked them to instead donate COVID-19 vaccine shots to the COVAX program in order for them to distribute to poorer countries.

Lower dose for children in different age group

Pfizer and BioNTech are seeking clearance for a 10-microgram dose of the vaccine in young children, which is comparatively lower. The dosage for those age 12 and above will be 30 micrograms . The vaccines for children aged 12-15 has been authorized since May after it was approved for those aged 16 and above in December this year. The companies assured that their vaccines showed 90.7 per cent efficacy against the virus in the clinical trial aged 5 to 11.