Covid vaccines for children as young as five ‘going to be the next issue on horizon’ says public health expert
Covid-19 jabs for children as young as five is “going to be the next issue on the horizon,” a public health expert said on Tuesday.
Professor Devi Sridhar, personal chair in global public health at the University of Edinburgh, stressed Pfizer was applying for its vaccine to be used for children aged five to 11 in the US.
She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “The exciting thing on the horizon to mention, even for parents of younger kids.... It looks like Pfizer is going for approval of the vaccine for five to 11 year olds in the United States in October so this is going to be the next issue on the horizon - once we deal with the 12-17 year olds whether we do that for the under-12s.”
It looks like Pfizer is going for approval of the vaccine for five to 11 year olds in the United States in October so this is going to be the next issue on the horizon - once we deal with the 12-17 year olds whether we do that for the under-12s.”
Senior US health officials believe Pfizer’s vaccine could be authorised for children aged five to 11 by the end of October, according to two sources.
The timeline is based on the expectation that Pfizer, which developed the shot with Germany’s BioNTech, will have enough data from clinical trials to seek emergency use authorisation for that age group from the US Food and Drug Administration towards the end of this month, they told Reuters.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency would have to give approval for use of the jab in this age group in Britain.
BioNTech has told German magazine Der Spiegel that it also expects to request authorisation globally for the COVID-19 vaccine in children as young as five over the next few weeks and that preparations for a launch were on track.
The UK Government’s decided on Monday to offer a one-dose inoculation to millions of 12 to 15-year-olds after the recommendtion from its chief medical officers.
Vaccine’s minister Nadhim Zahawi said on Tuesday children eligible to get the the vaccine will able to defy their parents and get the Covid-19 jab provided a clinician deems they are “competent” to make the decision.
