Pfizer delays seeking authorization for vaccinations against COVID-19 for children under the age of 5. This is for Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 (Comirnaty).
Parents who had hoped to get their young children vaccinated against COVID-19 now find themselves facing an extended wait again, with Pfizer announcing that it will delay seeking authorization for use in kids under 5 years of age. It’s a blow to efforts to continue reopening the US as the pandemic continues, a period which has seen parents of younger children left in limbo due to an absence of preventative vaccinations. Currently, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine – which is marketed as Comirnaty – has approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for individuals 12 years of age or older. It is also being administered under the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) process during the pandemic for children aged between 5 and 11 years. The hope, however, had been that the FDA would grant an extension of that EUA, which would cover even younger children. Currently, there is no authorized or approved vaccination for those under 5 years of age, which leaves parents and caregivers forced to balance the requirements of their daily life – including work – while simultaneously keeping children isolated from potential infection. The COVID-19 vaccinations have been shown in clinical testing to significantly decrease the likelihood of a severe or life-threatening case of the disease. Ongoing trials have looked at the potential impact of extending vaccine use to those babies and small children. The process hasn’t been a simple one, however. Back in December 2021, for example, early data indicated that those 6 months to 4 years of age would likely need a third dose in the vaccine regimen, given less than robust responses from the initial two-dose series.
