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Pfizer announced in a press release highly encouraging results from their Phase 3 clinical trial. The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was 100% effective and generated a high antibody response in children aged 12–15. This report is great news for adolescents who are ready to get back to normal life.
Pfizer plans to submit these findings to the FDA and request emergency use authorization. Albert Bourla, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pfizer stated, “We plan to submit these data to FDA as a proposed amendment to our Emergency Use Authorization in the coming weeks and to other regulators around the world, with the hope of starting to vaccinate this age group before the start of the next school year.”
A Phase 3 study included 2,260 US participants. The research detected only 18 cases of Covid-19, and all were in the placebo group. None were in the study participants who received the vaccine.
The Pfizer vaccine was 100% effective in preventing Covid-19 in children age 12-15.
Until recently, infection rates in children have been low. Children are often asymptomatic carriers but can pass the infection on to parents, teachers, and grandparents. The rise of variants such as B.1.1.7 is changing the way we view Covid-19 in children. A youth sports outbreak in Minneapolis was a wake-up call to public health experts.
Ugur Sahin, Co-founder of BioNTech highlighting the urgency for childhood vaccination stating, "given the trends we have seen in recent weeks regarding the spread of the B.1.1.7 UK variant. It is very important to enable them to get back to everyday school life and to meet friends and family while protecting them and their loved ones,”
February data from the American Academy of Pediatrics show over 3 million children have contracted Covid-19 resulting in 268 death. A disturbing breakdown of the CDC data shows that 75% of Covid-19 deaths among children of color.
The press release is available for review here.
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