Headline Roundup • October 7th, 2021
Pfizer Requests FDA Vaccine Authorization for Children 5 to 11
Coronavirus,Coronavirus Vaccine,Pfizer,FDA,Children,Schools,Family And Marriage,Public Health,Healthcare
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Pfizer and BioNTech announced Thursday that they had formally requested FDA emergency use authorization of their COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. The request comes roughly three weeks after Pfizer said a lower vaccine dose had proven safe and effective in clinical trials for that age group. The FDA has scheduled a meeting of its advisory board for Oct. 26 to consider the authorization. About 125 of the 28 million American children aged 5 to 11 have died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. Weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations among Americans under 18 rose sharply over the summer, from 0.3 per 100,000 in June to 1.4 per 100,000 in August.
Coverage was mostly balanced across the spectrum. Coverage on all sides differed on attributing the authorization request to Pfizer alone or to both Pfizer and BioNTech.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Shawn Rocco/Duke Health,via Reuters
Pfizer and BioNTech asked federal regulators on Thursday to authorize emergency use of their coronavirus vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, a move that could help protect more than 28 million people in the United States.
The companies say they are submitting data supporting the change to the Food and Drug Administration. The agency has promised to move quickly on the request and has tentatively scheduled a meeting on Oct. 26 to consider it. A ruling is expected between Halloween and Thanksgiving.
Jill Connelly/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Pfizer and BioNTech are officially asking the Biden administration to authorize the use of their COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.
Pfizer tweeted on Thursday that the companies had submitted their formal request for Emergency Use Authorization of the vaccine to the Food and Drug Administration.
"With new cases in children in the U.S. continuing to be at a high level, this submission is an important step in our ongoing effort against #COVID19," the pharmaceutical giant said.
Pfizer and BioNTech requested Food and Drug Administration emergency authorization of their COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, the companies announced Thursday.
Pfizer took to Twitter to share the news, writing: "With new cases in children in the U.S. continuing to be at a high level, this submission is an important step in our ongoing effort against #COVID19."
The news comes just over a week after Pfizer-BioNTech submitted clinical trial data from a COVID-19 vaccine study among kids ages 5-11 to the FDA. Trial data included recent findings among 2,268 participants ages 5-11, which...
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