US Begins Pfizer Vaccination for Ages 5-11... CDC Final Approval (Comprehensive)

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has given final approval for Pfizer vaccine administration to children aged 5 to 11, officially starting vaccinations for this age group.

On the 2nd (local time), according to the New York Times (NYT) and CNBC, the CDC gave final approval for Pfizer vaccine administration to children aged 5 to 11.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, announcing the approval decision, said, "The risks from COVID-19 are much greater than those from other diseases for which vaccines are administered." She added, "School closures have had social and mental adverse effects on children. Vaccination can change all of this."

The final approval came just hours after the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), composed of external experts, unanimously recommended vaccination.

Accordingly, the U.S. government plans to immediately begin Pfizer vaccinations for children.

On the same day, ACIP member Camille Cotton said, "Many children have become orphans after losing their parents due to this pandemic. This is a great tragedy," and added, "As an infectious disease expert, I support vaccination of children with the (Pfizer) vaccine."

Earlier, on the 29th of last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved emergency use of the Pfizer vaccine for children aged 5 to 11.

According to the FDA, the Pfizer vaccine is administered to children in this age group at a dose of 10 μg (micrograms), which is one-third of the adult dose (30 μg), given twice at three-week intervals.

Last week, the FDA released a virtual simulation result showing that vaccinating one million children aged 5 to 11 could prevent about 58,000 new COVID-19 cases and 241 hospitalizations.

Pfizer previously announced that its own clinical trial results showed an immune efficacy of 90.7% in children aged 5 to 11.

The company also stated that most vaccine side effects observed were mild symptoms such as headache, muscle pain, fatigue, and nausea. No cases of myocarditis were found in the clinical trials.

The U.S. government has been preparing a large-scale vaccination plan for children aged 5 to 11 in line with this emergency use approval.

The White House announced that as of early this week, it has secured enough vaccine doses to vaccinate 28 million children in this age group nationwide.

A senior White House official said yesterday, "Starting from the 8th, we will begin large-scale vaccinations for children at vaccination sites nationwide."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.