Advisory Committee of the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended yesterday, Thursday, the granting of a third, booster dose of covid-19 vaccine in children aged 5 to 11 years at least five months after the second.
Committee members looked at evidence from the CDC that protection from the first two doses was beginning to weaken over time and that booster doses in older age groups were improving protection against serious illness and hospitalization.
The US Food and Drug Administration The FDA on Tuesday approved a booster dose of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine for this age group as covid-19 cases rise again in the country.
CDC Director Rochelle Waleski said in a statement that she “endorses” the proposal of the Vaccine Advisory Committee (ACIP) “to extend the granting of supportive doses. “Children aged 5 to 11 should receive a booster dose at least five months after completing the basic vaccination cycle.”
«As more than 18 million doses have been given to this age group we know that these vaccines are safe and we must continue to increase the number of children who are protected.“, Stressed Walenski.
At the ACIP meeting, Pfizer noted that Evidence shows that a third dose of its covid-19 vaccine elicits a strong immune response to the Omicron mutant in healthy children aged 5 to 11 years..
The CDC also showed that the incidence of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine-induced inflammation of the heart was much lower in boys aged 5-11 years than in adolescents and young men.
Just over 8 million children in the US between the ages of 5 and 11 – 29% of the total – are considered fully vaccinated against covid-19 with the Pfizer / BioNtech vaccine.
The vaccine has not yet been approved for use in children under 5 years of age.
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