Oct. 22, 2021 — Pfizer says its vaccine for kids is 90% efficient at stopping COVID-19 infections.
The Pfizer vaccine for teenagers ages 5 to 11 is 10 micrograms, roughly one-third of the dose given to adolescents and adults.
In knowledge offered to the FDA forward of the company’s evaluate of its pictures for kids, the corporate described the interim outcomes of two ongoing research testing the protection and effectiveness of its 10-microgram pictures.
The vaccine effectiveness knowledge comes from a research of greater than 2,000 youngsters ages 5 to 11. Two-thirds of the youngsters have been randomly assigned to obtain a child-sized dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, whereas the opposite third was sorted into the placebo group.
The research acquired underway because the Delta variant turned dominant around the globe. As of the primary week of October, 16 contributors within the placebo group had gotten a symptomatic, lab-confirmed COVID-19 an infection, in contrast with simply three who caught COVID within the vaccinated group.
In keeping with the corporate’s evaluation of its personal research, unwanted side effects seen within the research have been practically all delicate. The most typical facet impact reported was ache on the website of the shot. Children within the group that obtained the vaccine additionally had fatigue, complications, fever, and chills at greater charges than have been seen within the placebo group. These have been commonest after the second dose. Some pores and skin reactions have been seen within the research, like itching and rashes, however these have been largely delicate and went away inside just a few days.
Children additionally may have swollen lymph nodes after their vaccinations, as adults generally do, however these reactions have been short-term.
One baby developed a tic, a recurring involuntary muscle twitch or vocal sound, that got here one week after their second dose of the vaccine. It was judged by research investigators to be associated to the vaccine. The corporate says it was going away by the point the research was being printed.
Reassuringly, no circumstances of coronary heart irritation known as myocarditis have been discovered within the research. Myocarditis is uncommon and short-term, but it surely requires hospital care. The best charges of myocarditis have been seen in males youthful than 30. That group has a threat of about 11 circumstances for each 100,000 doses given, based on a current research within the New England Journal of Drugs.
