Pfizer Asks FDA To Authorize Covid Booster For Kids 5-11

Topline

Pfizer and BioNTech Tuesday requested emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for a booster shot of their Covid-19 vaccine for kids aged 5-11, in the latest effort to extend protection to younger children, who have been put at greater risk of hospitalization by the omicron variant.

Key Facts

Key Background

The effectiveness of Pfizer’s two-dose vaccine course at preventing Covid-19 infection waned rapidly for children in New York during the Omicron surge, especially those in the 5-11 age bracket, according to data from the New York State Department of Health, however, the vaccine remained effective at preventing severe disease and infection. The FDA authorized a Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot for kids 12-15 January 3, saying that the shot could help combat the omicron variant, which caused a fourfold increase in child hospitalizations, affecting mostly unvaccinated children. Omicron is also more likely than other coronavirus variants to induce upper airway infections among children, raising the danger of heart attack, according to a study published April 15 by JAMA Pediatrics. In light of this risk, public health officials have worked to expand Covid-19 treatments for young children. April 25, the FDA approved Covid-19 antiviral remdesivir for children 28 days and older, making remdesivir the first Covid-19 treatment fully approved for children under 12. Other treatments, including Eli Lilly’s monoclonal antibody therapy bamlanivimab, had already received a more conditional emergency use authorization for use on children under 12.

Further Reading

“87% Of Kids Hospitalized With Covid During Omicron Wave Were Unvaccinated, CDC Says” (Forbes)