Pfizer and BioNTech on Monday said trial results showed their coronavirus vaccine was safe and produced a robust immune response in children aged five to 11, adding that they would seek regulatory approval shortly.

The vaccine would be administered at a lower dosage than for people over 12, they said.

“In participants five to 11 years of age, the vaccine was safe, well-tolerated and showed robust neutralising antibody responses,” US giant Pfizer and its German partner said in a joint statement.

They will submit their data to regulatory bodies in the European Union, the United States and around the world “as soon as possible”.

The trial results are the first of their kind for children under 12, with a Moderna trial for six-11 year olds still ongoing.

Both the Pfizer and Moderna jabs are already being administered to adolescents over 12 and adults in countries around the globe.

Although children are considered less at risk of severe Covid, parents and doctors are concerned that the highly contagious Delta variant could lead to more serious cases.

“We are eager to extend the protection afforded by the vaccine to this younger population,” said Pfizer CEO AlbertBourla, noting that “since July, paediatric cases of Covid-19 have risen by about 240 percent in the United States”.

Children who are of five years to 11 years of age in the trial group, received a two-dose regimen of 10 microgrammes in the trial, compared with 30 microgrammes for older age groups, the companies said. The shots were given 21 days apart.

The 10 microgramme dose was “carefully selected as the preferred dose for safety, tolerability and immunogenicity” for that age group, the statement said.

Source: NDTV

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