NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — A new Yale Medicine COVID-19 vaccine trial has shown promise with kids under 12. We spoke to Yale Medicine Infectious Diseases Physician Onyema Ogbuagu Wednesday about the results and what that could mean going into the fall.
Dr. Ogbuagu just completed a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine trial in children ages five through 11.
“Absolutely the vaccine has proven to be safe in those kids that we have administered the vaccine to and I think overall we haven’t had any safety reports that raised concerns so I’m very optimistic that things will go well with the rollout,” says Dr. Ogbuagu who will share his findings with the FDA.
He believes the rollout could begin in late October for children.
“As you can imagine, having an EUA extension is one thing but being able to vaccinate just the sheer numbers of kids will take a couple of months to achieve that,” says Dr. Ogbuagu.
Pfizer revealed new details Wednesday on its plans to expand vaccine access to children. The drugmaker expects to file safety and efficacy data for kids five to 11 years old with the FDA in early October, and for those as young as six months shortly after. Dr. Anthony Fauci predicts FDA emergency authorization would soon follow.
Also new Wednesday, new information recently emerged regarding COVID-19 booster shots for adults. An FDA advisory committee plans to meet about boosters on Friday. Monday, Sept. 20 was set as the target first day for vaccine booster shots in the United States.
Wednesday Pfizer shared with the FDA data from its clinical trials suggesting that a third booster shot may be needed at six months after being fully vaccinated, not the original eight months as first mentioned by health officials.
Also new, a serological study conducted at an Israeli hospital has found that antibody levels in the body after the administration of a third COVID-19 vaccine dose were 10 times higher than those detected after the second dose.