Pfizer has asked the Food and Drug Administration to authorize extra-low doses of its COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 6 months through 4 years. The FDA will review the application and convene a panel of outside advisers in mid-February to debate the data. The FDA will use that advice in deciding whether the new doses are safe and effective enough for the youngest children.
Shots for children in this age group are one-tenth the size of the adult doses. That’s even smaller than the doses given for 5- to 11-year-olds, which are one-third the dose. Pfizer will have to specially bottle the extra-low doses so vaccine providers don’t mix them up with the two other dosages already being used.
Preliminary study results showed two of the extra-low doses appeared strong enough to protect babies but weren’t strong enough for 2- to 4-year-olds. The company added a third shot to the study, but results are not expected until late March. While the government expanded pharmacists’ ability to vaccinate children during the pandemic, shots for the youngest children primarily are given in pediatricians’ offices.
The FDA took the highly unusual step of urging Pfizer to apply now for a two-dose series with potentially a third shot added later. During the FDA advisory committee meeting, the public will get its first look at any new evidence of whether two extra-low doses are working better than initially expected among the preschoolers.
Anyone age 5 and over is eligible to get vaccinated. King County residents can get vaccinated at no cost at any vaccination site, including in Kent, Auburn, Seattle, Renton, Redmond, Shoreline, and Snoqualmie Valley. You can also get vaccinated at local pharmacies and through many healthcare providers.
As the extraordinarily contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus began to spread throughout Washington last month, the return to online learning for some of the state’s public school students seemed almost inevitable. The state is now averaging nearly 16,000 new cases per day, a whopping 217% increase over the past two weeks.
