Pfizer Races to Seek Approval to Vaccinate Children Younger than 12

Producers of the Pfizer vaccine, BioNTech, are preparing to request clearance to vaccinate children five and older, and the company is ready to begin making smaller doses for children younger than 12.

Cofounder and chief medical officer of BioNTech, Ozlem Tureci, spoke with German News Outlet Der Spiegel about the company’s plans. “We will be presenting the results from our study on 5-to-11-year-olds to authorities around the world in the coming weeks,” Tureci explained. The company will seek clearance from countries to implement the use of the smaller dosage for children.

The vaccine is already approved for children 12 and older as the company races to gain approval for use in children under 12. In a joint statement, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock and Dr. Peter Marks announced that they are “eager to see our children and grandchildren vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as possible.” The statement went on to announce that “we have to let the science and data guide us.”

The FDA detailed the approval process for vaccine use for children under 12: “Once the manufacturers complete the relevant portion of their clinical trials, they have to complete the analysis of the data from the studies to understand how safe the vaccine is and how well it works in the clinical trial participants.” – READ MORE