Even as the world seems to go back to normalcy, experts know well and so should you that this is not time to put your guards down. The threat of the Covid-19 virus remains a reality, especially for children who are yet to get the vaccine.
As of October 17, 2021, the Singapore government administered a total of 96,40,810 doses on the island. However, do note that this remains only for adults. Not just in Singapore but in other countries too, pharmaceutical companies are yet to roll out the Covid vaccine for children under 12.
Parents globally continue to worry that a vaccine is yet to roll out for children under 12 years of age. But this may soon change.
According to a top Pfizer official, children under 12 years will soon become eligible for a coronavirus vaccine towards the end of the year. The vaccine maker is planning to request emergency authorisation for its vaccine on children ages 5 to 11, sometime in September or October 2021.
At the moment, the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine authorisation for use applies only to kids between ages 12 and 15 years. But will Singapore be soon seeing an authorisation of the vaccine for kids under 12?
Vaccine For Children Under 12 May Soon Be A Reality, Thanks To Pfizer
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Pfizer is currently conducting clinical trials on children between 6 months and 11 years. The data should be ready to submit to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the next few months.
The company had previously announced that it selected lower dosages of vaccine for kids who are younger than 11 years in comparison to the volume given to shot recipients of 12 and older. For kids who are 5-11 years in age, the vaccine will be given at a 10 microgram (ug) dose level. On the other hand, kids aged 6 months to 5 years, will receive a 3 ug dose level.
Dr Ozlem Tureci of BioNTech said in April 2021, that if the clinical trials go well and the FDA approves it, then kids could be vaccinated by the end of this year. He reiterated that it totally depends on how the clinical trials go.
Pfizer And Moderna Expand Trial For Kids Aged 5 to 11 years
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In the US, federal regulators urged that both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna expand the size of clinical trials for kids aged 5-11 years. The regulators wanted to take a precautionary measure to detect the rare side effects including heart inflammation problems noticed in vaccinated people younger than 30 years of age.
FDA indicated to both the vaccine makers that the size and scope of their paediatric studies were inadequate to detect the rare side effects. Hence, they had to increase the trial size.
According to an NYT report, FDA asked the companies to include 3,000 children in the 5-11-year-old group. This is almost double the size of the original participants.
The Moderna trial started recruiting patients in March with the aim of enrolling 6,795 participants younger than 12. According to the company spokesperson, they are “actively discussing” a proposal with the FDA to expand the trial. At present, the Moderna vaccine has been cleared only to be used in people who are 18 and above.
Pfizer’s plans for vaccinating kids
On the other hand, Pfizer is way ahead of Moderna and may also be able to meet FDA’s expectation on a bigger trial size. It will be able to file a request to expand emergency authorisation of its vaccine by the end of September.
The company expects to have results for the age group of 5-11 year-olds in September. The result for children from 2-5 years will follow shortly.
Meanwhile, the results for kids between the age group of six months and two years will arrive around October or November 2021.
Johnson & Johnson wants to run four paediatric clinical trials for use of its COVID-19 vaccine. For age groups between 12-17 years, the trials will begin around fall 2021. It will then expand to the much younger age groups.
While scientists are working on the vaccine for kids below 12, there’s still a lot of hesitation from parents regarding vaccinating their kids.
Is It Necessary To Vaccinate Kids Younger Than 12 years?
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Health experts say that vaccinating children is crucial to ending the pandemic. A country is unlikely to achieve herd immunity without its kids getting vaccinated. Many health experts argue that the risks of COVID on children need to be investigated further.
While countries like the US, Singapore and others have started their vaccination drive for kids from 12 to 15 years.
Vaccine advisers in the UK, on the other hand, recommended delaying vaccines for most young people under 16, citing that they have a very low rate of serious infections.
A study, across seven countries, published in the Lancet, estimated that less than two out of every million children died due to the novel coronavirus during the pandemic. This is because the infections in kids are mostly mild or asymptomatic.
Plus, with the latest Delta variant raging across several countries, there has been an uptick in severe cases in kids. The high level of infections is causing an increase in pediatric Covid-19 cases.
Singapore Vaccination Status
Singapore already authorised the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine for children under 12 as safe. If your child falls in this age group and isn’t yet vaccinated, here’s how you can register for your child’s vaccination:
- Visit vaccine.gov.sg
- Then register your child and include your contact details
- You will get an SMS with a personalised booking link. Use the link to book your child’s vaccination appointments.
- A child below 12 years, will have to be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Kids aged 13 and above need not be accompanied.
- Make sure you feed in the right age of your child at the time of writing the details
Even if you have received the jab, do remember to continue wearing a face mask, applying hand sanitiser and avoiding crowded areas. We still haven’t beaten the virus and being cautious will only go a long way.
Will you have your child receive vaccination once Singapore allows vaccine doses for kids under 12?
News source: NYT
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