FDA advisory panel recommends the Pfizer vaccine to be authorized for children ...

FDA advisory panel recommends the Pfizer vaccine to be authorized for children ...
FDA advisory panel recommends the Pfizer vaccine to be authorized for children ...

A panel of independent vaccine experts has recommended the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expand authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to include children aged five to 11.

The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted on Tuesday to recommend the jabs for children by a 17-0 vote with one person abstaining. 

While the recommendation from the panel, made up of people outside of the regulatory agency, is not binding, it is a key first step towards expanding the vaccine's access in America.

The shot will now need approval from the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to gain emergency use authorization.

If it gets through the final hurdles, it would be the first jab available for children within that age group.

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was recommended for authorization in children aged 5 to 11 on Tuesday, clearing the first hurdle towards expanding the jabs eligibility. Pictured: A child in Pasadena, California, receives a shot of a COVID-19 vaccine

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was recommended for authorization in children aged 5 to 11 on Tuesday, clearing the first hurdle towards expanding the jabs eligibility. Pictured: A child in Pasadena, California, receives a shot of a COVID-19 vaccine

The jab for children aged five to 11 will be ten micrograms, a third of the size of the 30 microgram dose given to adults.

'10ug dose level was selected as optimal to elicit robust immune responses with an acceptable safety profile,' Pfizer said in one of the presentation slides. 

Just like the doses for adults, it will be a two-shot vaccine with the doses at least three weeks apart. 

The company presented data from clinical trials at the meeting as well, showing the vaccine to be effective in children of that age group.

Data showed the vaccine to be 90 percent effective at preventing Covid in children aged five to 11 for at least four months, without any notable serious side-effects other than the rare myocarditis case.

The Pfizer vaccine is 91% effective in children aged five to 11 for the first four months after it is administered

The Pfizer vaccine is 91% effective in children aged five to 11 for the first four months after it is administered

Myocarditis, or heart inflammation, cases have appeared in young males who have received mRNA vaccine like Pfizer's.

While the likelihood of

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