FDA approves coronavirus vaccine for children under 5

(Fighting against New Coronary Pneumonia) The FDA approves the provision of new crown vaccines to children under 5 years old

　　China News Agency, Washington, June 17 (Reporter Sha Hanting) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the 17th local time approved the provision of new crown vaccines to children under the age of 5 under emergency authorization.

　　This is the first time that children under the age of 5 have been vaccinated against the new crown in the United States.

According to statistics, there are about 18 million children under the age of 5 in the United States.

　　On the same day, the FDA approved Pfizer’s new crown vaccine for children 6 months to 4 years old and the Moderna new crown vaccine for people 6 months to 17 years old.

　　The FDA has previously approved the Pfizer vaccine for people 5 years of age and older and the Moderna vaccine for people 18 and older.

　　FDA Commissioner Califf said on the same day that the FDA approved the vaccine for young children after a comprehensive evaluation, and parents should have confidence in the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine.

　　It is reported that Pfizer will provide a total of 3 doses of the vaccine to children aged 6 months to 4 years, each dose is one-tenth of the adult dose.

The first two doses of the vaccine should be given 3 weeks apart, and the third dose should be given at least 2 months after the second dose.

　　The vaccine, which Moderna provides to children aged 6 months to 5 years, contains two doses, each one quarter the dose of an adult.

Two doses of vaccine should be given 4 weeks apart.

　　The FDA said that data from the new crown vaccine trial for young children showed that the Moderna vaccine was about 40% to 50% effective in preventing infection; the Pfizer vaccine was unable to determine its specific effectiveness due to insufficient data.

　　Next, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will make a final decision on whether to recommend vaccination for this group.

The CDC expert committee has held a meeting on the 17th to discuss the issue and is expected to make a final decision on the 18th.

　　According to CDC statistics, as of now, more than 259 million people in the United States have received at least one dose of the new crown vaccine, accounting for 78.1% of the total population; more than 221 million people have been vaccinated, accounting for 66.8% of the total population.

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