Pfizer announced tonight (Thursday) that it hopes a corona vaccine for children under 12 will be approved as early as next year, 2022. It also added that data on the children’s vaccine will likely be available as early as this year.
Earlier this month, Pfizer CEO Albert Burla said at a news conference that he estimated teens could start getting vaccinated against the corona as early as this fall, and that elementary school-age children could get vaccinated towards the end of the year.
As you may recall, the vaccine produced by Pfizer, which was approved in an emergency procedure by the FDA, was approved for ages 16+ last January. Since then, the company has conducted an experiment involving more than 2,000 children aged 15-12 who received the vaccine and is awaiting the start of FDA discussions to be approved for use on children worldwide.
In Israel, it was reported that the Advisory Committee to the Ministry of Health is examining whether to recommend vaccinating children aged 15-12, even before the international approval is given. Discussions will not have to wait for results on the effectiveness of vaccines, due to the assessment that Pfizer vaccines are as effective in children as in adults, and it remains only to make sure that the vaccine is not dangerous for them.