Pfizer seeks European OK for child vaccines
In this Jan. 24, 2021, file photo, a vial of the Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19 is shown at a one-day vaccination clinic set up in an Amazon.com facility in Seattle and operated by Virginia Mason Franciscan Health.[AP Photo/Ted S. Warren]
The pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech say they have requested that their coronavirus vaccine be licensed for children aged 5 to 11 across the European Union. If authorized, it would be the first opportunity for younger children in Europe to be get immunized against COVID-19.
In a statement on Friday, Pfizer and BioNTech said they had submitted data to the European Medicines Agency, including late-stage results from a study testing their COVID-19 vaccine in more than 2,200 children aged six months to 11 years, using a lower dose than what’s normally given to adults.
The companies said those results showed a "strong immune response" in the children and that the vaccine was also found to be safe. There are currently no COVID-19 vaccines licensed for use in children younger than 12 in Europe or North America; the shots made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are authorized for children 12 and older in the European Union.
Earlier this month, Pfizer and BioNTech asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to green light their vaccine for kids aged 5 to 11.