COMMONWEALTH Healthcare Corporation Chief Executive Officer Esther L. Muna said U.S. health officials are preparing to roll out a Covid-19 vaccine for children as young as 5 years of age.
According to Reuters, earlier this month, Pfizer/BioNTech officially asked U.S. regulators to authorize emergency use of their Covid-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, a group of roughly 28 million in the U.S. for whom no shot is currently allowed.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel of outside advisers will meet next week Tuesday, Oct. 26, to discuss the Pfizer/BioNTech application that could possibly lead to young children receiving the two-dose Covid-19 vaccine.
The Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine is currently approved for emergency use authorization in individuals 12 to 15 years of age.
It is also the only one among the three Covid-19 vaccines approved for use in the U.S. that has been fully approved by regulators for any age group.
If approved, it will become the first Covid-19 vaccine ever made available to children ages 5 to 11.
In its clinical studies, Pfizer/BioNTech said that it saw the Covid-19 vaccine induce a strong immune response among the 2,268 clinical trial participants.
The vaccine could be ready for rollout as early as next month pending approval from federal regulatory health agencies.
“The data has been submitted to FDA on Covid vaccine in young kids. We’re waiting for their decision,” Muna said.
The health chief said there will be discussions with the CNMI Public School System this week to deliberate on vaccinating children at the schools.
“We feel that that’s the most effective and the better approach as we roll those vaccines out,” Muna said, noting that taking the school-based vaccination clinic approach is part of a core strategy that has been working well in the community.
Pfizer and BioNTech are also testing the vaccine in children 2 to 5 years of age, as well as children 6 months to 2 years of age.
