Emergency Use Approval for Children 5-11
November 5, 2021
COVID cases are rising every day, but this week’s focus is on the vaccine approval for children ages 5-11. CDC director Rochelle P. Walensky approved this vaccine on Nov. 2
CDC is now expanding the vaccine recommendations to approximately 28 million children in the United States, starting as soon as possible.
“Vaccines are really the only consistent and reliable way that we can provide that protection other than cocooning them at home to minimize their risk but then that is depriving them of many other important aspects of their childhood,” ACIP Chair Grace M. Lee, associate chief medical officer for Stanford Children’s Health said.
The Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) requires vaccination providers give a hard copy of the authorized Vaccine Infromation fact sheet for recipients and caregivers.
According to federal reports, since the pandemic started about 1.9 million children from ages 5 to 11 years old have been infected and more than 8,300 have been hospitalized and approximately 100 have died.
“I value preventing infection in children, and I think it can have a huge positive impact on their health, their social and emotional well-being, their educational outcomes and their long-term trajectory,” Lee said.
The Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine has the almost the same formulation as the FDA-approved Comirnaty vaccine, the BioNTech is interchangeable with other COVID-19 vaccines.
The FDA and CDC have several systems taking places to constantly monitor COVID- 19 vaccine safety, allowing for rapid detection and investigation of safety problems that may occur.
“Remember; the Pfizer vaccine authorized for 5- to 11-year-olds is a different formulation, a lower dose, and this means distributing and shipping a new product to thousands of pediatricians, as well as pharmacies,” Lee said.
Most common reported side effects with vaccine are tiredness, headaches, joint pain, pain at the injection site and a fever. Side effects typically go away within the first 24 hours following the injection.
If you are pregnant and want to take the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, there have been no specific studies showing that those who are in this group there is no contradiction to the receipt of the vaccine.
It also will not cause any infertility.
The FDA embarked on journey to get the vaccine promoted. The education campaign via social media, media interviews, consumer content and engagement with stakeholders. All this is in efforts to help citizens understand the scientific process behind the vaccination.
https://www.aappublications.org/news/2021/11/02/cdc-pfizer-covid-vaccine-children-110221
