[ad_1]
National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins told Fox News on Monday that he supports eligible students to be vaccinated against the coronavirus even if they have not yet been mandated to do so, and applauded Pfizer’s plan to submit data to the Food and Drug Administration for a sufficiently small vaccine dose. for even younger children.
The New York-based pharmaceutical giant announced that a lower dose of its two-part injection should be safe and effective for children aged 5 to 11, but Collins noted that they still had to submit their data to the FDA.
“This is good news, but this is still a press release. Pfizer must now submit its data to the FDA for review to verify that the safety and efficacy are what they say they are. What they said today sounds really good. It’s a third of the dose of the vaccine. [and] gives an antibody response equivalent to what you see in 16-25 year olds. We are therefore on the right track, ”he said.
“The side effects seem to be pretty reasonable. But let’s be clear. The FDA will look at this. They’ll have to have an advisory committee. They’ll have a public meeting. They’re kids so they want all the data for people to see.”
The geneticist added that in the meantime, parents of students over 11 should still look for vaccines for their children, telling “Your World” that nearly half of those families have already done so.
“As for the mandate, we haven’t done this for the older kids. It will be up to the parents. I sure hope the parents, seeing the data, have the chance when the FDA holds a public meeting. , say it’s something I want for my kids to keep them from getting sick and to keep our schools where they need to be. Kids need to be in school. It’s another way of s ‘make sure that happens, “said Collins, headquartered in Bethesda, MD. The NIH oversees the NIAID led by White House adviser Dr. Anthony S. Fauci.
Host Sandra Smith then asked Collins if children should still wear masks after receiving the vaccine if the Pfizer vaccine is approved for students of all ages.
“It depends on whether the rest of us do what we need to do to chase away this terrible delta wave, which means the rest of the people who are still unvaccinated, like some of the parents of these children, are putting their money aside. sleeves, ”Collins said.
“It won’t be enough just to immunize small children. The data is so compelling that these vaccines are safe and effective. It puzzles me that we still have 75 million people in the United States who haven’t rolled up their sleeves. “
CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Asked whether the FDA shot President Biden’s plan to start giving COVID booster shots to Americans just days before the White House got involved in the business, Collins said he was a scientist, not a politician – and the situation there shows that science guided the FDA, not politics.
“What you are seeing right now is exactly what you would want. Science guides the decision. Science is changing week by week. We will continue to change the recommendations. But you can trust that the people who are watching we look at this from a ‘what science tells us’ point of view. “
[ad_2]
Source link