By Yusuf Boluwatife
As part of efforts to vaccinate millions of young Americans against diseases and infections, the United States has approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for children between the ages of 5 and 11.
The Director of Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, Rochelle Wolensky made the decision after careful consideration from US drug regulators and expert panels at the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration, FDA, who weighed the risk and benefits of vaccinating children against COVID-19.
President Joe Biden, in a statement, said the child vaccine “will allow parents to end months of anxiousness, worrying about their kids, and reduce the extent to which children spread the virus to others.”
On Tuesday, the National Broadcasting company, NBC, citing a senior CDC official, said the coronavirus has caused 2,300 schools to close this year, affecting 1.2 million pupils ans 78,000 teachers since August.
Among those between five and 11 years old, they have been about 1.8 million confirmed COVID-19 cases with fewer-than-two-hundred death cases.
Meanwhile, the US has begun vaccination for children aged 12 and above.
FDA officials also reported that the vaccine was estimately 91% effective in preventing the virus in young children and their immune response was comparable to that seen in people aged 16 to 25.
Children aged five to 11 are given a jab with a third dosage given to adults. However, smaller needles are used for the children and the second hand is required three weeks after the first. Also, no serious side effects were found by researchers.
