The Pfizer vaccine is safe for children from the age of five, the study showed – SME.sk

BRATISLAVA. Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said on Monday that they would apply for approval of their vaccine for use in children aged five to 11 years.

The portal informs about it CNN.

According to her, the results of clinical studies showed good results in the level of antibodies and also that vaccine is safe for children.

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Children were given a lower dose than adults because the same amount could cause more side effects. Adults receive two 30 microgram doses, with children receiving 10 microgram doses.

The study involved 2,268 participants aged five to 11 years. It used a two-dose vaccination regimen with a 21-day interval.

Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are already given to adolescents over 12 years of age and adults in countries around the world.

Although children are considered less at risk of a serious course of the disease COVID-19, are concerned about the highly contagious coronavirus variant delta could lead to more serious cases.

Vaccination of children is also seen as crucial if schools are to remain open, as well as helping to end the coronavirus pandemic.

“We really want to provide the protection provided by the vaccine to this younger population as well,” said Pfizer boss Albert Bourla. He pointed out that “children’s cases of covid in the United States have risen by about 240 percent since July.”

Children in the test group aged five to 11 years received a total of 10 micrograms of the two-dose substance during the tests – compared to 30 micrograms in the older age groups, both companies explained. There was an interval of 21 days between doses.

The 10 microgram dose was “carefully selected as the appropriate dose for this age group in terms of safety, tolerability and immunogenicity”.

The side effects were “generally comparable to those seen in participants aged 16 to 25,” the companies added in a statement.

The most common side effects in the past were pain and swelling at the injection site, as well as headache, chills and fever.

Israel has already given special permission to vaccinate children aged five to 11 who are “at significant risk of serious illness or death” on covid, using a lower-dose Pfizer vaccine.

Pfizer and BioNTech are also testing their vaccine in infants aged six months to two years and in children aged two to five years. The results of these tests are expected “already” in the fourth quarter of this year, the companies announced.

A total of 4,500 children aged six months to 11 years were enrolled in Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine trials in the United States, Finland, Poland and Spain.