Corona pandemic Pfizer trials vaccine on young children

As of: June 9th, 2021 8:38 pm

BioNTech and Pfizer also want their vaccine approved for children under 12 years of age. The first studies on this have already started. The product will soon also be tested on babies. From Antje Passenheim, ARD Studio New York BioNTech and the pharmaceutical company Pfizer are advancing the development of their Covid-19 vaccine for use in younger children. As Pfizer announced in New York, the group has expanded its clinical study to children under twelve years of age.

Admission already in October?

In the first tests, a small number of minors were given different doses of the vaccine. According to Pfizer, around 4,500 children between the ages of six months and eleven will now take part in studies in more than 90 facilities in the United States, Finland, Poland and Spain. Tests on five to eleven year olds began this week. They receive either a placebo or two doses of ten micrograms each. This corresponds to a third of the dose that adolescents and adults receive. Pfizer expects to get US approval for five- to eleven-year-olds by October. In a few weeks, children aged six months and over will be brought in for a study. These should only receive three micrograms per vaccination. A short time later, the group wants to apply for approval for children up to five years of age.

Severe disease courses in children are rare

Pfizer sells the serum developed by BioNTech, a Mainz-based company. Since children are generally less likely to get seriously ill with Covid compared to adults, the group relies on a lower dose vaccination for younger children, which should also have fewer side effects. In the European Union, the USA and Canada, the vaccine is already approved for children from the age of twelve and is sometimes used. In the United States, nearly seven million teenagers have received at least one dose of vaccine, according to health officials.