Pfizer has started clinical trials of its vaccine in children 6 months to 11 years old

The American Pharmacist Pfizer announced Thursday it has started clinical trials of its coronavirus vaccine in children 6 months to 11 years old, a crucial step in obtaining authorization from regulatory agencies to begin vaccinating minors and controlling the pandemic.

The the first participants in the clinical trial have already received the initial injection of this vaccine, which was developed by Pfizer in collaboration with the German laboratory BioNTech.

Pfizer, which thus joins the also American company Modern vaccine test in minors, intends in this initial phase of the clinical trial to have 144 children, with which you want 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 start receiving a dose of 10 micrograms of serum to gradually increase, according to Pfizer, although Participants also have the option of choosing the 3 microgram dose, versus the two 30 microgram doses that adults receive.

In the next phase, the researchers will analyze the efficacy and safety of the selected doses, in which some participants will receive the vaccine and others a placebo.

“Pfizer has extensive experience in conducting clinical trials of vaccines in children and infants and is committed to improve the health and well-being of children in these carefully designed trials ”the company explained in a statement.

According to experts, immunizing children, who make up about 20% of the US population, is key to ending the coronavirus pandemic, and they stress that the country is unlikely to achieve collective immunity until minors are also vaccinated.

Moderna announced that it began clinical trials in children under the age of 12 on March 16, which began to teenagers aged 12 to 17 last December.

In addition, according to New York Times, Johnson & Johnson plans to test its single-dose vaccine in infants and newborns after testing it in older children.

Pfizer’s announcement comes two days after the drugmaker claimed it had started the early stages of a clinical trial of a oral medicine that could be used after the first symptoms of a covid infection.

In a statement, Pfizer explained that its drug, called PF-07321332, has been shown in in vitro studies. a “potent protease inhibitor with antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2” and other coronaviruses, suggesting their “potential” to treat covid-19 and other “threats”.

With information from EFE

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