The CEO of Pfizer assured that “it is a matter of days and not weeks” for the company and its German ally BioNTech to present data to US regulators for the federal authorization of a vaccine against COVID-19 for children between 5 and 11 years.
That would be an important step in starting the vaccination campaign among minors, especially now that children have returned to school and the delta variant has caused a marked increase in pediatric infections.
Pfizer said last week that its vaccine works in that age group and that it tested a much lower dose of the vaccine that is now available to everyone 12 and older.
The company noted that after children ages 5 to 11 received their second dose during the trials, they developed levels of antibodies to coronavirus that were just as strong as adolescents and young adults during their regular vaccinations.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla commented that if the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves the company’s application, “we will be ready with our manufacturing to supply this new vaccine formulation.”
And once he gets into the coronavirus pandemic, he told ABC’s “This Week” that in a matter of a year, “I think we can get back to normal life. I don’t think this means that there will be no more variants. And I don’t think this means that we can live our lives … without having vaccines. “
Bourla also stated that “we will have vaccines that will last at least a year” and that “the most feasible scenario will be annual vaccinations.”
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