Jabs for Euro 5-11 year olds
THE EU drugs regulator has authorised Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine for use on children aged five to 11, clearing the way for jabs to be administered to millions of primary school pupils amid a new wave of infections sweeping across Europe.
It is the first time the European Medicines Agency has cleared a Covid-19 vaccine for use in young children.
The agency said it “recommended granting an extension of indication for the Covid-19 vaccine Comirnaty to include use in children aged five to 11”.
After evaluating a study of the vaccine in more than 2,000 youngsters, the EMA estimated it was about 90% effective in preventing symptomatic Covid-19 in young children, and said the most common side effects were pain at the injection site, headaches, muscle pain and chills.
At least one country facing spiking infections did not wait for EMA approval. Authorities in Austrian capital Vienna have already started vaccinating the age group.
Europe is at the epicentre of the pandemic and the World Health Organisation has warned the continent could see deaths top two million by the spring unless urgent measures are taken.
The EMA approval for the vaccine developed by Pfizer and German company BioNTech has to be rubberstamped by the European Commission before health authorities in member states can begin administering jabs.
Earlier this week, German health minister Jens Spahn said shipping of vaccines for younger children in the EU would begin on December 20.
The US signed off on Pfizer’s vaccine for children earlier this month, followed by other countries including Canada.
Pfizer tested a dose that is a third of the amount given to adults for primary schoolage children.
Even with the smaller jab, children who are five to 11 years old developed antibody levels as strong as teenagers and young adults getting the regular-strength vaccines, Pfizer said in September.
Studies on Pfizer’s vaccine in children have not been big enough to detect any rare side effects from the second dose, like the chest and heart inflammation seen in mostly male older teenagers and young adults.