Berlin, Oct 15 (BUS) – Pharmaceutical company Pfizer and biotech company BioNTech said on Friday that they have requested a license for a coronavirus vaccine for children aged 5-11 across the European Union. If regulators in the European Union agree, it will be the first chance for younger children in Europe to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Pfizer and BioNTech said they have submitted data to the European Medicines Agency, including late-stage results from a study testing a COVID-19 vaccine on more than 2,200 children aged 6 months to 11 years. The Associated Press (AP) reported that children received a lower dose than is usually given to adults.
The companies said in a statement that the results showed a “strong immune response” in children and that the vaccine was also found to be safe. There are currently no COVID-19 vaccines licensed for use in children under 12 years of age in Europe or North America; Those made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are approved for children 12 years of age and older in the European Union.
Earlier this month, Pfizer and BioNTech asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to give the vaccine the green light for children ages 5 to 11.
Expanding vaccine availability to nearly another 28 million American children is seen as another milestone in the fight against the virus and comes amid an alarming rise in serious infections among young adults due to the highly contagious delta variant.
In the United States, COVID-19 has killed at least 520 children so far, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
With much of Europe’s adult population already immunized, many countries are seeing outbreaks increasingly among children while schools are mostly open and operating with sometimes incomplete guidance on wearing masks and social distancing.
The World Health Organization said vaccinating children was not a priority because they are less likely to get seriously ill or die from COVID-19. The health agency has repeatedly urged rich countries to share their doses with poor countries rather than expand local eligibility so that the world’s vulnerable populations can be immunized.
WHQPfizer-BioNTech asks EU agency to approve vaccine for children 5-11 years old
Berlin, Oct 15 (BUS) – Pharmaceutical company Pfizer and biotech company BioNTech said on Friday that they have requested a license for a coronavirus vaccine for children aged 5-11 across the European Union. If regulators in the European Union agree, it will be the first chance for younger children in Europe to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Pfizer and BioNTech said they have submitted data to the European Medicines Agency, including late-stage results from a study testing a COVID-19 vaccine on more than 2,200 children aged 6 months to 11 years. The Associated Press (AP) reported that children received a lower dose than is usually given to adults.
The companies said in a statement that the results showed a “strong immune response” in children and that the vaccine was also found to be safe. There are currently no COVID-19 vaccines licensed for use in children under 12 years of age in Europe or North America; Those made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are approved for children 12 years of age and older in the European Union.
Earlier this month, Pfizer and BioNTech asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to give the vaccine the green light for children ages 5 to 11.
Expanding vaccine availability to nearly another 28 million American children is seen as another milestone in the fight against the virus and comes amid an alarming rise in serious infections among young adults due to the highly contagious delta variant.
In the United States, COVID-19 has killed at least 520 children so far, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
With much of Europe’s adult population already immunized, many countries are seeing outbreaks increasingly among children while schools are mostly open and operating with sometimes incomplete guidance on wearing masks and social distancing.
The World Health Organization said vaccinating children was not a priority because they are less likely to get seriously ill or die from COVID-19. The health agency has repeatedly urged rich countries to share their doses with poor countries rather than expand local eligibility so that the world’s vulnerable populations can be immunized.
NS