Covid. USA authorizes Pfizer vaccine for children between 5 and 11 years old

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• Usa, Pfizer seeks authorization for vaccine use between 5 and 11 years

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October 29, 2021 The Food and Drug Administration, the US regulatory body on drugs, has paved the way for vaccination against Covid-19 for children aged 5 to 11. The FDA has authorized the Pfizer-BionTech vaccine to be used in young children, and administration could begin next week. Vaccination is expected to affect approximately 28 million American children deemed eligible to receive the vaccine. 

A regulatory obstacle remains: on Tuesday the advisers of the CDC - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) will provide more detailed recommendations on how to vaccinate the youngest and then give the definitive go-ahead to start the administrations of vaccine. The vaccine cycle includes two doses three weeks apart. 

"Vaccinating younger children against COVID-19 will allow us to return to a sense of normalcy," says Dr

, Interim Commissioner of the FDA. "Our thorough and rigorous evaluation of the vaccine safety and efficacy data should help assure parents that this vaccine meets our high standards." 

Following the FDA's decision, Pfizer plans to begin shipping millions of

vials

 -

to avoid confusion with purple ones regarding doses for everyone else - to doctor's offices, pharmacies and other vaccine centers.

The government has counted more than 2,000 coronavirus-related school closures since the start of the school year, affecting more than a million children.

Some countries have started using other Covid-19 vaccines in children under 12, including China, which has just started vaccinations for 3-year-olds.