Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine was 73% efficient in defending youngsters youthful than 5 as Omicron spread 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 not less than one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by mid-August, based on the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Well being authorities licensed tot-sized vaccine doses made by Pfizer and its associate BioNTech based mostly on a research displaying they have been protected and produced excessive ranges of virus-fighting antibodies. However there was solely preliminary information on how that translated into effectiveness towards symptomatic COVID-19.
There have been 21 COVID-19 circumstances among the many 351 tots who received dummy pictures—in comparison with simply 13 among the many 794 kids given three vaccine doses.
Learn Extra: Half of People With Omicron Don’t Know They’re Infected, Study Says
The kid circumstances primarily have been brought on by the BA.2 Omicron model that was circulating on the time. Right now, one other Omicron relative, BA.5, is inflicting most COVID-19 circumstances within the U.S. and far of the world.
In older youngsters and adults, the COVID-19 vaccines have been used lengthy sufficient to show that they continue to be strongly protecting towards extreme illness and demise even because the coronavirus mutates—whereas early safety towards an infection wanes. Nonetheless, scientists monitor that preliminary effectiveness fee as further proof of vaccine efficiency—and to search for indicators of how they initially maintain up towards new mutants.
Pfizer this week asked U.S. regulators to authorize modified vaccine doses that higher match the most recent Omicron variants for folks 12 and older as boosters this fall. The corporate mentioned it is also creating up to date pictures for youths beneath 12.
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