Q&A's about coronavirus vaccines for younger adolescents

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Thu, 2021-05-13 08:43 — mike kraft

What you should know about coronavirus vaccines for younger adolescents Now, that the Food and Drug Administration has cleared the first coronavirus vaccine for emergency use in children as young as 12, families are sure to have questions about the Pfizer-BioNTech shot and when it will become available. Carolyn Y. Johnson, Lena H. Sun, Laurie McGinley Washington Post

Now that the Food and Drug Administration has cleared the first coronavirus vaccine for emergency use in children as young as 12, families are sure to have questions about the Pfizer-BioNTech shot and when it will become available. Here are some answers.

Is the vaccine authorized for use Monday the same as the one that has been given to millions of people 16 and older?

Yes. It is the same vaccine, at the same strength, and requires two doses.

How well did the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine work in adolescents?

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was originally authorized for people 16 and older.

In a trial of nearly 2,300 adolescents between 12 and 15 years old, half received the two-shot regimen that was shown effective and safe in adults and half received a placebo. Researchers took blood samples after vaccination and measured antibody levels triggered by the shots.

They found stronger immune responses in the teens than in young adults who had already been shown to be protected in the original trial. This is a common way of investigating whether a vaccine is effective in groups of people not included in the original trial, called “immune bridging.” There were 16 cases of covid-19 — the illness caused by the virus — in the trial, all of them among adolescents who received a placebo. That offered direct evidence that the shots provided strong protection against illness. ...

Will the vaccine be required for school entry?

It will be up to state governments to decide which vaccines are required for school entry in their jurisdictions. But Dorit Reiss, a law professor focused on vaccine policy at the University of California Hastings College of Law, said she does not think a coronavirus shot would be mandated in schools without the vaccine receiving full regulatory approval. ...

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