EU drugs regulators approved Pfizer’s COVID vaccine for kids 5-11

The EU (European Medicines Agency) who is a pharmaceuticals regulator approved Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine for use on children aged 5 to 11 years old, clearing the way for doses to be given to millions of elementary school students across the continent amid a new wave of infections.

The agency said “An expansion of the indication for the COVID-19 vaccination Comirnaty to cover usage in children aged 5 to 11,”

The EMA estimated that the vaccination was roughly 90% effective in avoiding symptomatic COVID-19 in young children after analyzing research involving more than 2,000 children, and said the most common side effects were pain at the injection site, headaches, muscle pain, and chills. The agency said the two-dose regimen should be given to children three weeks apart.

At least one country dealing with an outbreak of diseases did not wait for the EMA to give its permission. Authorities in Vienna, Austria’s capital, have already begun immunizing children aged 5 to 11. The pandemic is presently centered in Europe, and the World Health Organization has warned that warned the continent could see deaths top 2 million by the spring unless urgent measures are taken.

Read more: 1st batch of COVID-19 vaccines for children arrives in Canada

Before health authorities in member states can begin distributing shots, the EMA green light for the vaccine developed by Pfizer and German business Biotech must be rubber-stamped by the EU’s executive branch, the European Commission.

Earlier this week, Germany’s health minister Jens Spahn announced that shipping of vaccines for younger children in the EU would begin on December 20.

Pfizer’s kids-sized doses were approved by the US earlier this month, and other nations, including Canada, followed suit.

For elementary school-aged children, Pfizer tried a dose that is a third of the amount given to adults. Dr. Bill Gruber, a Pfizer senior vice president, told The Associated Press in September that youngsters aged 5 to 11 years old acquired coronavirus-fighting antibody levels that were just as high as teenagers and young adults who received the regular-strength doses.

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