Pfizer To Seek Approval For COVID-19 Vaccine For Children

• …COVID-19 vaccines are only approved for children 12 and older, which has stirred concern among health experts as cases in children increase…

Pfizer/BioNTech plans to ask for authorization of a COVID-19 vaccine for children under 12 soon.

This brings the US one step closer to offering protection to a population that has grown particularly vulnerable as the fall season gets underway.

“It is a question of days, not weeks,” Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla told ABC News Sunday about when the company will submit data on children ages 5 to 11 to the FDA for consideration.

Currently, COVID-19 vaccines are only approved for children 12 and older, which has stirred concern among health experts as cases in children increase, school years begin and the more transmissible Delta variant spreads.

Read also: A COVID Cheat Sheet: 30 Facts You Need To Know (1)

Nearly 26% of all Covid-19 cases nationwide are reported in children, according to recent data published by the American Academy of Pediatrics. And an average of 266 children were hospitalized with Covid-19 every day last week, according to Sunday’s data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Once the data from Pfizer/BioNTech is in, it will have to go through two committees, one for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and one for the CDC, expert Dr. Johnathan Reiner said on Sunday. If the data comes in this week, it would likely be in committee by the end of October, he added.

And there is a lot of data for them to look at, he said.

“This is a vaccine for children, so getting the dose right — in terms of efficacy and side effects — is crucial,” Reiner said.

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