Pfizer asks US to allow COVID shots for kids ages 5 to 11

Pfizer asked the U.S. authorities Thursday to let usage of its COVID-19 vaccine successful children ages 5 to 11 — and if regulators agree, shots could statesman wrong a substance of weeks.

Many parents and pediatricians are clamoring for extortion for children younger than 12, today’s property cutoff for the vaccine made by Pfizer and its German spouse BioNTech. Not lone tin youngsters sometimes get earnestly ill, but keeping them successful schoolhouse tin beryllium a situation with the coronavirus inactive raging successful poorly vaccinated communities.

Pfizer announced successful a tweet that it had formally filed its exertion with the Food and Drug Administration.

Now the FDA volition person to determine if there’s capable grounds that the shots are harmless and volition enactment for younger children similar they bash for teens and adults. An autarkic adept sheet volition publically statement the grounds connected Oct. 26.

One large change: Pfizer says its probe shows the younger kids should get a 3rd of the dose present fixed to everyone else. After their 2nd dose, the 5- to 11-year-olds developed virus-fighting antibody levels conscionable arsenic beardown arsenic teens and young adults get from regular-strength shots.

While kids are astatine little hazard of terrible unwellness oregon decease than older people, COVID-19 does sometimes termination children and cases successful youngsters person skyrocketed arsenic the extra-contagious delta variant has swept done the country

“It makes maine precise blessed that I americium helping different kids get the vaccine,” said Sebastian Prybol, 8, of Raleigh, North Carolina. He is enrolled successful Pfizer’s survey astatine Duke University and doesn’t yet cognize if helium received the vaccine oregon dummy shots.

“We bash privation to marque definite that it is perfectly harmless for them,” said Sebastian’s mother, Britni Prybol. But she said she volition beryllium “overjoyed” if the FDA clears the vaccine.

Pfizer studied the little dose successful 2,268 volunteers ages 5 to 11, and has said determination were nary superior broadside effects. The survey isn’t ample capable to observe immoderate highly uncommon broadside effects, specified arsenic the bosom inflammation that sometimes occurs aft the 2nd dose of the regular-strength vaccine, mostly successful young men.

If the FDA authorizes exigency usage of the kid-sized doses, there’s different hurdle earlier vaccinations successful this property radical tin begin. Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention volition determine whether to urge the shots for youngsters, and the CDC volition marque a last decision.

To debar dosing mix-ups, Pfizer is readying to vessel vials specially marked for pediatric usage containing the little dose.

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AP writer Emma H. Tobin contributed to this report.