Soon the Biontech vaccine will also be available for children under the age of twelve. A study is now showing positive results.
Frankfurt – As part of the fight against the Corona * virus, there is constant debate about a vaccine for children under the age of twelve. According to the two companies, the corona vaccine * from Biontech / Pfizer has proven to be well tolerated in children between the ages of five and eleven and evokes a stable immune response. The data of the clinical study are to be presented to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the US FDA as soon as possible, as the two vaccine manufacturers announced on Monday (September 20, 2021).
For the clinical study, the children between the ages of five and eleven were given only a third of the dose of an adult. According to information, the two vaccinations were three weeks apart.
Corona: Biontech vaccine should now also be safe for children
The results of the study turned out to be quite positive. “Antibody responses in participants who received a dose of ten micrograms were similar to those from a previous study by Pfizer / Biontech in people aged 16-25 who received a dose of 30 micrograms,” announced the company. The side effects were also comparable to those of the older group. Results from two additional groups of participants aged two to five years and from six months to two years are expected for the fourth quarter.
According to the information, a total of 4500 children between the ages of six and eleven took part in the study, the data presented on the five to eleven year olds go back to 2268 participants. Over 90 clinics in the USA, Finland, Poland and Spain are involved.
Corona in Germany: Application for approval for vaccinating children “before this winter”
“We are pleased that we can present the data for this group of school-age children to the regulatory authorities before the start of winter,” said BioNTech co-founder Ugur Sahin. Regarding the spread of the Delta * variant, approval of the vaccine for young people is necessary. Pfizer boss Albert Bourla sees in the positive study data a “solid basis” for the approval.
According to Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn *, approval for a corona vaccine by the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) takes a little longer. “I assume that the approval for a vaccine for children under twelve years of age comes in the first quarter of 2022,” said the CDU * politician to the newspapers of the Funke media group. “Then we could also protect the younger ones even better.” The minister also pointed out that a recommendation by the STIKO would come a little later in this case too. (Yasemin Kamisli with dpa) * fr.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
Headline list image: © Rolf Zoellner / Imago
