The US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) vaccine advisory board has given the green light to Moderna and Pfizer’s ambassador RNA vaccine for children under the age of 5. The vaccine is expected to be available to children under the age of 5, with the vaccine coming to the market next week, after the FDA has authorized the vaccine, following the independent experts’ decision to recommend the vaccine, and all other procedural steps have been completed. The number of vaccinated children under the age of 5 is estimated to be around 18 million. This age group was the last group in the USA not to be vaccinated.
“This is a long-awaited vaccine,” said FDA advisory board member Jay Portnoy, a doctor at Children’s Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. “There are so many parents who are desperately waiting for this vaccine, and I think we owe it to them to offer this option.”
The head of the FDA’s vaccine unit, Dr. Peter Marks opened the meeting by sharing data on the increase in the hospitalization rate for young children during the Omicron wave. Marks stated that 442 children under the age of 4 lost their lives during the pandemic. The number is far less than adult deaths, but Marks noted that the need to vaccinate young children still should not be overlooked.
Marks reminded that every lost child shakes a family.
Experts said that the vaccines of both brands are safe and effective for children older than 6 months. It was stated that side effects such as fever and fatigue were less common than in adults.
Although the two vaccines use the same technology, there are differences between them. Experts say it’s impossible to know which one is better than the other, as vaccines have not been tested in comparison to each other.
After the FDA approves the vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) must also approve it in order for the vaccine to be available on the market. If the CDC approves, the vaccine will be available in clinics, hospitals and pharmacies from next Monday or Tuesday.
Pfizer’s vaccine covers children aged 6 months to 4 years, while Moderna’s vaccine covers children aged 6 months to 5 years.
Moderna’s vaccine consists of a quarter dose of the company’s adult vaccine. Moderna’s two-dose vaccine is effective at preventing serious illness but only 40 percent effective at preventing mild infections. Moderna has added a third booster dose to its experiments and plans to introduce it in the future.
Pfizer’s vaccine is one-tenth the adult dose. During the BioNTech experiments, Pfizer and its partner found that two doses did not provide adequate protection and added a third dose during the Omicron wave.
No security concerns
No safety concerns were found in Pfizer’s data, and three doses were stated to be 80 percent effective. But only 10 cases of COVID occurred during the experiment. As this number increases, the company’s experimental data may change.
Yesterday, the FDA’s advisory board of independent experts recommended Moderna’s half-dose vaccines for young people aged 6-11 years, and the same dose of adult vaccine for adolescents. Currently, these age groups are only allowed to receive Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.
The US’s COVID vaccine campaign kicked off in December 2020 with the launch of adult vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. Priority was given to healthcare workers and the elderly in nursing homes. Teenagers and school-age children started getting the vaccine last year.
Moderna said in April that it had applied for approval outside of the US for its vaccines for young children. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 12 other countries have already started vaccinating their children under the age of 5 with other brands of vaccines.
COVID less effective in young children
In the United States, it is not clear how many families want their children to be vaccinated. While COVID-19 is generally less effective in young children than in other children and adults, there have been some serious cases and deaths. To keep their unvaccinated children safe, many families have stopped traveling or sending their children to kindergarten.
Yet by some estimates, three-quarters of all children in the United States have an infection. Since approval of Pfizer’s vaccine last November, only 29 percent of children aged 5-11 have been vaccinated. This figure is well below what public health officials consider ideal.