Yahoo News reported that, the US could authorize COVID-19 vaccines for younger kids, 5 to 11, by Halloween, Pfizer‘s new timeline suggests. The company expects to submit data to the FDA for this younger age group in early October. Pfizer is testing a lower dose of its vaccine among young kids to avoid unnecessary side effects.
The timeline might be as follows:
- Late September 2021: Pfizer’s clinical trial will show whether the shots are safe and effective for kids ages 5 to 11.
- Early October 2021: Pfizer will submit that trial data to the FDA.
- Late October 2021: The FDA could authorize COVID-19 shots for emergency use among kids ages 5 to 11.
- Early November 2021: Pfizer will submit trial data for kids between 6 months and 5 years old to the FDA.
- Late November 2021: The FDA could authorize the shots among kids between 6 months and 5 years old.
Moderna, meanwhile, expects to have data about its vaccine’s efficacy among young kids later in the fall or early this winter.
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN’s Jake Tapper on September 24, 2021 that we might even see the FDA authorize both the Moderna and Pfizer shots for kids before the winter.
Johnson & Johnson is on a slower timeline. The company won’t start studying its vaccine among children ages 12 to 17 until this fall. If the shot is shown to be safe and effective among older kids, J&J could then start enrolling 2- to 11-year-olds in its trial, followed by children younger than 2. That means a single-dose shot likely won’t be available to kids until sometime in 2022.