The reminder of the anti-Covid vaccine authorized for 5-11 year olds in the United States

Children aged 5 to 11 will in turn be able to receive a booster dose of Pfizer’s anti-Covid vaccine, US health authorities announced on Tuesday. The American Medicines Agency (FDA) wants to “offer continuous protection against Covid-19”, she explained in a press release.

A suitable dosage

A committee of experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is due to meet Thursday to consider the issue in turn, and recommend this booster dose. It must be injected at least 5 months after the first series of two injections. The dosage used is 10 µg, both for the initial injections and for the booster dose (compared to 30 µg for ages 12 and older).

This authorization comes at a time when the United States is recording an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases, with around 90,000 new cases declared per day. Hospitalizations are also on the rise.

Covid-19 “tends to be less severe in children than adults,” FDA chief Robert Califf was quoted in the statement as saying. But “the wave linked to the Omicron variant has made more children sick and led to more hospitalizations and children suffering long-term effects”, he underlined.

Children under 5 soon to be eligible for vaccination?

The United States has 28 million children between the ages of 5 and 11. Among them, more than 4.8 million cases have been counted, and some 360 ​​deaths, according to CDC figures. This age group has been eligible for vaccination with Pfizer since November 2021, but less than 30% are fully vaccinated.

The FDA again stressed on Tuesday the importance of vaccination to prevent serious cases of the disease. Americans over 50 are already eligible for a second booster dose (fourth dose in all). Children under 5 are not yet eligible for vaccination, with no vaccine, but a committee of independent experts is due to meet in June to review clinical trial data from Pfizer and Moderna for a authorization for this age group.

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