Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine was 73% efficient in defending kids youthful than 5 as Omicron unfold within the spring, the corporate introduced Tuesday.
Vaccinations for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers opened within the U.S. in June after months of delay. Solely about 6% of kids ages 6 months by way of 4 years had gotten at the very least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by mid-August, in response to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Well being authorities approved tot-sized vaccine doses made by Pfizer and its companion BioNTech based mostly on a examine exhibiting they had been secure and produced excessive ranges of virus-fighting antibodies. However there was solely preliminary information on how that translated into effectiveness in opposition to symptomatic COVID-19.
There have been 21 COVID-19 instances among the many 351 tots who obtained dummy photographs—in comparison with simply 13 among the many 794 children given three vaccine doses.
Learn Extra: Half of Folks With Omicron Don’t Know They’re Contaminated, Research Says
The kid instances primarily had been brought on by the BA.2 Omicron model that was circulating on the time. At this time, one other Omicron relative, BA.5, is inflicting most COVID-19 instances within the U.S. and far of the world.
In older kids and adults, the COVID-19 vaccines have been used lengthy sufficient to show that they continue to be strongly protecting in opposition to extreme illness and loss of life even because the coronavirus mutates—whereas early safety in opposition to an infection wanes. Nonetheless, scientists monitor that preliminary effectiveness charge as further proof of vaccine efficiency—and to search for indicators of how they initially maintain up in opposition to new mutants.
Pfizer this week requested U.S. regulators to authorize modified vaccine doses that higher match the latest Omicron variants for individuals 12 and older as boosters this fall. The corporate mentioned it is also growing up to date photographs for teenagers underneath 12.
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