April 06, 2021.- The American pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced on Thursday, April 1st, that it has begun clinical trials of its coronavirus vaccine in children between 6 months and 11 years old, a crucial step to obtain permission from regulatory agencies to begin vaccinating minors and controlling the pandemic.
The first participants in the clinical trial have already received the initial injection of this vaccine, which was developed by Pfizer together with Germany’s BioNTech.
Pfizer, thus joining the American company Moderna in testing the vaccine in minors, intends in this initial phase of the clinical trial to have 144 children, with which it wants to identify the best dose for three age groups: between 6 months and 2 years, between 2 and 5 years and between 5 and 11 years.
Children will begin receiving a 10-microgram dose of the serum to progressively increase it, according to Pfizer, although participants also have the option of choosing the 3-microgram dose, compared to the two 30-microgram doses that adults receive.
In the next phase, the researchers will analyze the effectiveness and safety of the selected doses, in which some participants will receive the vaccine and others a placebo.
“Pfizer is highly experienced in conducting clinical trials of vaccines in children and infants and is committed to improving the health and well-being of children in these thoughtfully designed trials,” the company explained in a statement.
According to experts, the inoculation of children, who make up about 20% of the population of the United States, is essential to end the coronavirus pandemic, noting that the country is unlikely to achieve herd immunity until the minors are also vaccinated.
Moderna announced that it had started its clinical trials in children under 12 years old on March 16, something that began for adolescents between 12 and 17 years old last December.
Additionally, according to the New York Times, Johnson & Johnson plans to test its single-dose vaccine in infants and newborn babies after testing it in older children.
Pfizer’s announcement comes two days after the drugmaker claimed to have started the first phases of a clinical trial of an oral drug that could be used after the first symptoms of Covid infection.
Source: El Universal
