EU approves Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children 5 to 11
Global News
The European Union's medical regulator has approved the use of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, joining Canada in inoculating children.
The European Union‘s drug regulator on Thursday authorized Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for use on children from five to 11 years old, clearing the way for shots to be administered to millions of elementary school pupils amid a new wave of infections sweeping across the continent.
It is the first time the European Medicines Agency has cleared a COVID-19 vaccine for use in young children.
The agency said it “recommended granting an extension of indication for the COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty to include use in children aged five to 11.”
At least one country facing spiking infections didn’t wait for the EMA approval. Authorities in the Austrian capital, Vienna, already have begun vaccinating the five to 11 age group. Europe is currently at the epicenter of the pandemic and the World Health Organization has warned the continent could see deaths top two million by the spring unless urgent measures are taken.
The EMA green light for the vaccine developed by Pfizer and German company BioNTech has to be rubber-stamped by the EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, before health authorities in member states can begin administering shots.
Earlier this week, Germany’s health minister Jens Spahn said shipping of vaccines for younger children in the EU would begin on Dec. 20.
The United States signed off on Pfizer’s kids-sized shots earlier this month, followed by other countries including Canada.
Pfizer tested a dose that is a third of the amount given to adults for elementary school-age children. Even with the smaller shot, children who are five to 11 years old developed coronavirus-fighting antibody levels just as strong as teenagers and young adults getting the regular-strength shots, Dr. Bill Gruber, a Pfizer senior vice president, told The Associated Press in September.
