According to Pfizer and BioNTech, their vaccine is also very effective in children between the ages of 12 and 15

According to Pfizer and BioNTech

The very favorable data, reported by the company and not yet published, concern 2,260 adolescents. There is talk of 100% efficacy and a solid antibody response. Now we have to wait for the confirmation and publication of the study and before the vaccine reaches the very young it takes time

(photo: Karolina Grabowska via Pixabay) Pfizer-BioNTech's anti-Covid vaccine would be very effective in children, according to what reported by the two manufacturing companies. After the recent announcement of the launch of Pfizer (and Moderna) clinical trials to study coronavirus vaccines already in use in adults also on children and adolescents, today the first data arrive, reported in a note from the Pfizer company (but not yet published). In the age group between 12 and 15 years, on a sample of just over 2 thousand children, the detected efficacy is 100%, writes Pfizer, and there is a robust immune response linked to the production of specific antibodies against the Sars-Cov-2.

Children and teenagers

Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine is indicated for ages 16 and up and others aged 18 and over and there are still no vaccines for the under 16, simply because this age group was not included in the previous clinical trials that led to the approval of the vaccines we are using. But for some time now the companies (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna) have begun to study their vaccines, already effective and safe in adults, even in children and young people, with different dosages in certain cases. It will be important to vaccinate even the little ones, both to protect them and to prevent them from becoming spreaders of the infection as they are not vaccinated.

Today's data on 2,260 adolescents

"In participants aged 12 to 15, the BNT162b2 vaccine demonstrated 100% efficacy and robust antibody responses", we reads on Pfizer's page, "higher than those reported in the trial of vaccinated participants aged 16 to 25 in a first analysis, and was well tolerated." There were 18 cases of Covid-19 all in the control group, which received a placebo, and no cases in the vaccinated group. Furthermore, one month after the second dose, an immune activation linked to the production of specific antibodies to Sars-Cov-2, studied in a subgroup of adolescents, is powerful and this demonstrates, as the company explains, a strong immunogenicity - the ability to induce an immune response. The response is, however, no less than that in the 16-25 year old group and the side effects are "generally comparable to those observed in the 16-25 age group", we read again.

When will the vaccine for children arrive?

The company reports the need to extend the authorization to use the vaccine also among the youngest, in the wake of the first very positive results. The plan is to submit the data to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the coming weeks and also to other regulatory agencies around the world. “With the hope - emphasizes Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer - to start vaccinating this group of people before the start of the new school year”.

And for the children?

While for children, the times would be a bit longer: recent forecasts indicate that vaccination will not be available for them before 2022. "The initial results found in the studies on adolescents", stresses Bourla, "suggest that children are particularly protected from vaccination, which is a very encouraging element considering the trend observed in recent weeks relating to the spread of the English variant B117 ", which in Italy is now present in almost 9 out of 10 cases. In our country in recent weeks the cases among the youngest have grown a lot, in particular adolescents aged 14 to 19, who at the end of January were driving the count of new infections.


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Topics

Adolescence Children Coronavirus Pfizer Coronavirus vaccine Pfizer vaccine BioNTech globalData .fldTopic = "Adolescence, Children, Coronavirus, Pfizer, Coronavirus Vaccine, Pfizer BioNTech Vaccine"

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