Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine over 90% effective in kids

The Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine has been proved to be over 90% effective in kids.

Lower child-sized doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine appear safe and almost 91% effective at preventing symptomatic infections in 5- to 11-year-olds, according to study details released today, Friday, October 22, as the U.S. regulator considers opening vaccinations to that age group.

Administration of the shots could begin as early as November, with the first children in line fully protected in time for the Christmas holidays- if regulators give the go-ahead. That would represent a major expansion of the nation’s vaccine drive, encompassing roughly 28 million elementary school-age youngsters.

The results of Pfizer’s study were posted online. The Food and Drug Administration was expected to post its own review of the company’s safety and effectiveness data later in the day.

Advisers to the FDA are due to publicly debate the evidence next week. If the agency itself authorises the shots, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will then make the final decision on who should receive them.

Full-strength Pfizer shots already are authorised for anyone 12 or older, but pediatricians and many parents are anxiously awaiting protection for younger children to stem rising infections and record hospitalizations among them from the extra-contagious delta variant and to help keep kids in school.

The Biden administration has purchased enough kid-size doses — in special orange-capped vials to differentiate them from adult vaccine — for the nation’s 5- to 11-year-olds. If the vaccine is cleared, millions of doses will be quickly delivered around the country, along with smaller kid-sized needles.

More than 25,000 paediatricians and primary care providers already have signed up to get the shots into little arms.

The trials

The Pfizer study tracked 2,268 children in the 5-to-11 group who got two shots three weeks apart of either a placebo or the low-dose vaccine. Each dose was one-third the amount given to teens and adults.

Researchers calculated the low-dose vaccine was nearly 91% effective, based on 16 COVID-19 cases in youngsters given dummy shots versus three cases among vaccinated children. There were no severe illnesses reported among any of the youngsters, but the vaccinated ones had much milder symptoms than their unvaccinated counterparts.

Most of the study data was collected in the U.S. during August and September, when the delta variant had become the dominant COVID-19 strain.

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