Children between the ages of 5 and 11 are expected to receive a booster dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, U.S. government advisers said Thursday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quickly accepted the panel’s recommendation to open the third COVID-19 shock for healthy elementary school children, as already recommended for all 12 and older.
Hopefully, the extra shot will increase protection for children ages 5 to 11 as infections continue to grow.
“Primary vaccination in this age group is lagging behind other age groups, making them vulnerable to serious illness,” said Dr. Rochelle Valensky, director of the CDC.
“We know these vaccines are safe and we need to continue to increase the number of children protected,” he said.
Earlier this week, the Food and Drug Administration approved the Pfizer baby size enhancer, which is offered to teens at least five months after the last injection.
The CDC will take the next step by recommending who needs vaccinations. His advisers are debating whether all healthy children between the ages of 5 and 11 need an extra dose, especially since so many children become infected during the massive winter of the Omicron variant.
But the United States now collects an average of 100,000 new cases a day for the first time since February. And finally, CDC consultants highlighted growing evidence from older children and adolescents that the two primary vaccinations and boosters provide the best protection against the latest coronavirus variants.
“There should always be a vaccine,” Drs. Grace Lim of Stanford University, head of the CDC’s advisory board.
The question of reinforcement is not the hottest vaccine topic: Parents are eagerly awaiting the possibility of their children under 5 being vaccinated, the only group not yet allowed in the United States.
Doran Fink, a physician with the Food and Drug Administration, said the agency is working “as quickly as possible” to review the application of vaccine maker Moderna and is awaiting final data from rival Pfizer’s youngest children. FDA advisers are expected to review the data for one or both companies next month.
So far it is not yet known what he will do after leaving the post. Only 30% of this age group have received the first two doses of Pfizer since vaccination began in November.
CDC consultant Dr Helen Cape Talbot of Vanderbilt University said health authorities need to make more efforts to recruit key youth personnel.
“It has to be a priority,” he said.
Thursday’s decision also means that children between the ages of 5 and 11 whose immune systems are severely weakened who need to undergo three major vaccinations could receive a fourth dose.
Pfizer and its partner BioNTech are currently making the only COVID-19 vaccine available for children of any age in the United States, with doses from 5 to 11 years old representing one-third of the amount given in anyone over 12 years of age. .
In a small study, Pfizer found that the booster increased the levels of antibodies resistant to children with the virus, including those resistant to the highly contagious omicron variant, the same jump that adults do. age with extra hits.
Vaccines do not always prevent milder infections, and the omicron variant is particularly effective in protecting them. But the CDC cited omicron increase data, which showed unvaccinated children between the ages of 5 and 11 had twice the hospitalization rate of teens who received the first two doses.
Health authorities say that for all ages, vaccines still offer strong protection against the worst effects of COVID-19, especially after the third dose.
Some particularly high -risk people, including those over the age of 50, have been offered the choice of a second booster or fourth shot – and on Thursday the CDC raised that recommendation, urging anyone eligible to go ahead and drink. an extra dose. .
It remains to be seen if everyone will need more footage this fall, possibly re -mentioning to provide better protection against new coronavirus variants.
The Associated Press Department of Health and Science receives support from Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. AP is solely responsible for all content.
Source: Huffpost
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