CDC Goes Green for Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine to Children Ages 5 to 11 in the U.S.

Some 28 million children between the ages of 5 and 11 can already receive the vaccine against COVID-19 from Pfizer-BioNTech at USA, a new step in the vaccination campaign that many parents eagerly awaited.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officially gave the green light to this immunizer on Tuesday night, after authorization late last week by the United States Drug Administration (FDA).

The vaccine will always be given in two injections, three weeks apart. The dose has been adjusted to 10 micrograms per injection, less than the 30 micrograms that the older age groups receive per dose.

“We know that millions of parents want to vaccinate their children,” said Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, in a statement, calling the announcement an “important step” in the fight against COVID-19.

“As a mother, I encourage parents with questions to speak” with health professionals to “learn more about the importance of vaccination,” she added.

In theory, the first injections to young children could start on the same Tuesday night.

The government had already largely anticipated the decision by purchasing enough doses to immunize all children in that age group, and by starting to send millions across the country.

Since the approval of the FDA on Friday, “there has not been a single time when teams have not collected, packed and shipped vaccines,” White House pandemic coordinator Jeff Zients said Monday.

The vaccination campaign for young children “will reach its maximum capacity the week of November 8,” he calculated.

“A turning point”

US President Joe Biden called this step “a turning point” in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This will allow parents to end months of worrying about their children and reduce the rate at which children transmit the virus to others,” he said in a statement.

Among children ages 5 to 11, there have been more than 1.9 million cases of COVID-19 in the United States, more than 8,300 hospitalizations, more than 2,300 cases of MIS-C (pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome) and a hundred deaths .

Based on clinical trials conducted by Pfizer in thousands of children, the vaccine has been shown to be 90.7% effective in preventing symptomatic forms of the disease in this age group.

In addition to protecting them from getting sick, there are other benefits such as fewer class closures and a possible reduction in the transmission of the epidemic to the general population.

Doses will be available at pharmacies, pediatric hospitals, pediatric offices, family doctors, and some schools.

According to a September CDC survey of 1,000 parents, 57% said they would “definitely” or “probably” vaccinate their children.

“If I had a grandchild, I would definitely vaccinate him,” said Beth Bell, an infectious disease specialist and member of the expert committee convened by the CDC that unanimously recommended the Pfizer vaccine for ages 5 to 11.

“We have excellent evidence of efficacy and safety. We have a favorable benefit-risk analysis ”, he insisted.