In the USA, the Biontech / Pfizer corona vaccine has now received emergency approval for children between the ages of five and eleven.
In the EU, a decision on approval is to be made by Christmas.
Washington DC - The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Biontech / Pfizer's vaccine emergency approval for use in children between the ages of five and eleven on Friday, October 29th.
The executive FDA chief Janet Woodcock said after the decision: "As a mother and doctor, I know that parents, child carers, school staff and children have been waiting for today's approval." She emphasized that vaccinating younger children against Covid-19 an important step back to a “certain normalcy”.
Woodcock said that the vaccination of the Mainz vaccine developer Biontech and the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer met the "high standards" of the FDA.
The statement by the drug agency said, among other things, that the vaccine was safe and effective even in children under the age of twelve.
US vaccination campaign in the starting blocks: 50 million additional doses of vaccine ordered
The FDA's Vaccination Advisory Committee on Tuesday (October 26) recommended emergency approval for Biontech / Pfizer's vaccine for this age group.
The emergency approval was then officially granted.
Now, however, the CDC health authority has to make a corresponding vaccination recommendation before the age group can actually be vaccinated.
A panel of experts based there will examine the issue of approval in the coming week on Tuesday or Wednesday.
US President Joe Biden had already announced that after the publication of a vaccination recommendation, the vaccination campaign for five to eleven year olds would begin immediately.
There are around 28 million children between the ages of five and eleven in the United States.
The US government recently ordered another 50 million vaccine doses for children from Biontech and Pfizer.
Vaccination protects children 90.7 percent from Covid disease
According to the current status, five to eleven year olds should receive two vaccine doses with a dosage of ten micrograms each.
Otherwise, the usual dosage is 30 micrograms.
According to statements by the company Pfizer, the protection against Covid 19 disease through vaccination is 90.7 percent in five to eleven year olds.
In the course of the pandemic it was found that children are less affected by the coronavirus than older people, but the virus can also be dangerous for them.
In the United States, according to the CDC, 8,300 children between the ages of five and eleven have been hospitalized for Covid-19 disease since the pandemic began.
146 children died of or with Covid-19.
Approval for this age group in the EU: decision should come before Christmas
The Biontech / Pfizer vaccine had already received emergency approval in the United States for children aged twelve and over and full approval for adolescents aged 16 and over.
The companies Biontech and Pfizer have also applied for approval of their vaccine for five to eleven year olds in the EU.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is expected to make a decision in the EU by Christmas.
The chairman of the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) Thomas Mertens had recently expressed reluctance to corona vaccinations for children from the age of five.
He argued, among other things, that the Covid 19 disease burden in the USA is "apparently higher than in Germany".
He announced this to the Dösselforfer
Rheinische Post
this week
.
(at / afp)
