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Pfizer Covid-19 Vaccine 90.7% Effective In Children Aged 5-11

Pfizer Covid-19 Vaccine 90.7% Effective In Children Aged 5-11
fizer vaccine

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine currently has an EUA for children aged 12 to 15 and is fully approved for people ages 16 and older.

Written by Longjam Dineshwori |Updated : October 23, 2021 12:01 PM IST

American drugmaker Pfizer and its partner BioNTech are applying emergency use authorization (EUA) for their Covid-19 vaccine for younger children aged 5 to 11 from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is meeting on October 26 to discuss whether to authorise the vaccine for children. If approved, it would be the first Covid-19 vaccine for younger children of the mentioned age group.

On Friday, the companies released data for the vaccine that shows their two-dose vaccine regimen (10-microgram dose) is safe and 90.7 per cent effective against symptomatic coronavirus in children aged 5 to 11. The two doses would be administered three weeks apart.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine currently has an EUA for children aged 12 to 15 and is fully approved for people ages 16 and older.

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Mention may be made that a few days ago, the White House had announced a plan to roll out Covid-19 vaccines for children aged from five to 11. "In anticipation of the FDA's independent advisory committee meeting on October 26 and the CDC's (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) independent advisory committee meeting on November 2-3, today the Biden Administration is announcing a plan to ensure that, if a vaccine is authorized for children ages 5-11, it is quickly distributed and made conveniently and equitably available to families across the country," the White House said in a statement on Wednesday, as quoted by IANS.

It added that a comprehensive effort will be mobilised across the public and private sectors to ensure that the country has the supply, the sites, and the support needed to get its children vaccinated and protected against the virus.

Covid-19 vaccine for kids in India

Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla on Thursday said that Covovax, another Covid-19 vaccine being manufactured by his company, is likely to be approved for children as young as 2-3 years by February next year. He told a news channel they have submitted data to the WHO for the vaccine and the approval is expected by February.

Bharat Biotech's Covaxin has already received emergency use approval for children in the 2-18 years age group from the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on Covid-19. Hyderabad-based company had completed Phase-2 and Phase-3 trials of Covaxin on children in September and submitted the trial data to the Drugs and Comptroller General of India (DCGI) at the start of this month. The DCGI is yet to give its clearance. The made in India vaccine will be administered in two doses, 20 days apart.

India had also granted emergency use approval to Zydus Cadila's Covid-19 vaccine for children (ZyCov-D). It is the first DNA vaccine to be approved in the world. The vaccine could be administered to children between the ages of 12 to 18. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) gave clearance to ZyCoV-D in August.

India on Thursday surpassed the 100-crore mark, achieving a major milestone in its vaccination program against Covid-19.