A panel of U.S. health advisers on Tuesday endorsed kid-size doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, moving the U.S. closer to beginning vaccinations in children ages 5 to 11.
A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted unanimously with one abstention that the vaccine's benefits in preventing COVID-19 in that age group outweigh any potential risks - including a heart-related side effect that's been very rare in teens and young adults who get a much higher dose.
The dose for young children is just one-third of the Pfizer shot already recommended for everyone 12 and older. Moderna also is studying its vaccine for young children.WASHINGTON - Kid-size doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine may be getting closer as government advisers on Tuesday began deliberating whether there's enough evidence that the shots are safe and effective for 5- to 11-year-olds.
If the FDA authorizes the kid-size doses, there's still another step: Next week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will have to decide whether to recommend the shots and which youngsters should get them. “I want to acknowledge the fact that there are strong feelings” among the public for and against child vaccinations, Marks added, noting that the discussion would be on scientific data “not about vaccine mandates, which are left to other entities outside of FDA.”
Pfizer's study tracked 2,268 children ages 5 to 11 who got two shots three weeks apart of either a placebo or the kid dose. Vaccinated youngsters developed levels of virus-fighting antibodies just as strong as teens and young adults who got the full-strength shots.
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