Experts: Conn. youth still getting COVID, but not as severely as adults
As FDA backs use of Pfizer vaccine for kids 5-11
The Food and Drug Administration Friday approved Pfizer’s COVID vaccine for use in children ages 5 to 11. State data released this week shows children in Connecticut are catching the virus, but health experts say they’re not getting as sick.
The FDA Friday agreed with its advisory panel’s recommendation to allow children ages 5 to 11 access to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine under an emergency use authorization.
“The authorization was based on a thorough and transparent evaluation of the vaccine that included input from independent advisory committee experts who overwhelmingly voted in favor of making the vaccine available to children in this age group,” the FDA said on Twitter.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will need to give the final approval, which could come as soon as early next week.
Connecticut officials have said children age 11 and younger could begin receiving the vaccine as soon as next Thursday.
“The proposition is a little different for younger kids,” said Ohm Deshpande, who runs Yale New Haven Health’s COVID-19 vaccine administration program. “COVID tends to be a little less severe.”
Connecticut already has already ordered 96,900 doses formulated for young children, with more expected in the coming weeks, according to state Department of Public Health spokesperson Chris Boyle.
“To date, more than half of the pediatric primary care sites in the state plan on vaccinating children and all the federally qualified health centers in the state have notified the Department of Public Health that they will be vaccinating children,” he said.
“You can get COVID from anybody of any age, which is why it's important to do everything we can to prevent spread,” said Tom Murray, associate medical director for infection prevention for Yale New Haven Children's Hospital.
In New Canaan, one of the nine COVID cases reported in town in the past week involved a child younger than 1 year old, according to a release from the town.
“The nine cases are mostly mild cases with low-grade fever, sore throat, body aches and congestion as primary symptoms,” the release said. “The cases range in age from under age 1 to over 50.”
State data released this week bears out that trend. Children are continuing to catch COVID-19, but are not getting as sick as their older siblings, parents and grandparents.
Adults between the ages of 20 and 29 have the highest rate of COVID infection, according to data released by the state: 15,167 for every 100,000 residents in that age group have contracted COVID.
The rates are lower for children ages 9 and younger: 7,458 for every 100,000 children in that age range.
That’s higher than that among adults between the ages of 70 and 79, who have caught COVID at a rate of 7,404 for every 100,000.
But COVID-related death rates are significantly lower among young children. The rate of COVID-related deaths among children 9 years old and younger is zero for every 100,000, according to state data.
Older groups have higher rates of COVID-related deaths, one death for every 100,000 residents among patients ages 10 to 19. The oldest Connecticut residents have the highest rates of death, 2,936 for every 100,000 residents over the age of 80.
The state announced Friday an additional 424 coronavirus cases identified in the previous 24 hours, with one less patient hospitalized with the virus for a statewide total of 190.
Of the 27,848 COVID tests performed in Connecticut in the previous 24 hours, 1.52 percent were positive for the disease.
Murray said COVID-19 symptoms among children are markedly different.
“In general, in kids, they can have more GI symptoms, more nausea, vomiting, diarrhea,” he said. “And then as you get into the even younger kids, you get a higher proportion that are asymptomatic or have very, very mild symptoms.”
Murray said as pediatric patients get older, their symptoms become more similar to adults.
“As you get older, more typically it resembles the adult presentation,” he said.