Pfizer to Include 4500 Children in Final Study of COVID-19 Shots in Kids Below 12
The drug company said the late-stage research would enroll almost 4500 kids at over ninety clinical spots in America, Poland, Finland, and Spain.
BioNtech SE and Pfizer’s COVID-19 jab will go under testing in kids less than 12 years in a final study seeking to extend immunization across all age groups.
On Tuesday, the pharmaceutical company said that the late-stage research would enroll almost 4500 kids at over ninety clinical spots in America, Poland, Finland, and Spain.
The coronavirus vaccine produced by BioNtech and Pfizer has already received Emergency Use Authorization in all 12 and older in European Union, Canada, America. And they get the same dose as elders, 30 micrograms.
In an effort to get more people vaccinated, Moderna announced that data from its COVID vaccine trial among kids as young as 5 could be available by the fall.
Pfizer tells @CBSNews the next phase in its trial for children as young as 6 months old should begin in the coming weeks. pic.twitter.com/F8cgGIEUlL
Enrollment to 5-11 years age children for the new research would start early this week. Moreover, based on findings from the tolerability, safety, and immune response produced by 144 kids in Phase-I trials of two-dose shot, Pfizer Inc. stated it would test a shot of 10mgs in kids between five and eleven. Moreover, the company will study for three micrograms (a tenth of the amount given to adults) in kids of 6-months to five years old.
Expanding the COVID-19 jabs to more people pledges to further reduce the epidemic spread that has already started declining in Western nations where doses are broadly used. According to Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker, including over 0.3 Bn in America, more than 2.15 Bn doses have been administered globally.
However, Pfizer Inc.’s shares fell 0.2 percent at 9:45 AM in New York.
About 7M Teens Got Their At Least 1-Dose in America
A pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist, and the Co-Principal Investigator of a Duke University-based trial site, Michael Joseph Smith, said that “Kids aren’t little adults.” Moreover, Joseph Smith said that “the younger people are, the stronger their immune system is and the more of a reaction they have, so essentially, they could get by with less antigen but get the same immune response without high fever.”
Smith added that “there is nothing about the rollout of these COVID-19 vaccine trials that are different from other vaccine trials.”
On 11th May, the two-dose mRNA jab was cleared for use in those 12-to-15 in America, leading to the mass immunization of the middle and high school students. The trial in over two thousand teens found the jab was fully effective against the symptomatic disease.
Pfizer to Include 4500 Children in Final Study of COVID-19 Shots in Kids Below 12 Source: Web
As of Monday, according to the US CDC, twenty-two percent of American children ages 12-15 years old had got their first shot of Pfizer/BioNtech jab. About 7M teens have got their at least one dose in America.
Pfizer’s senior VP of clinical research and development, William Gruber, said Pfizer Inc. and its German vaccine partner BioNtech SE would see if the jab produces an immune response.
Immunizing youngers is considered a grave step towards reaching ‘herd protection’ and breaking the pandemic.
