Dr. Anthony Fauci, a U.S. epidemic prevention expert and white house chief medical adviser, said wednesday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may approve the new crown vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech next month for children under 5 years old.
"I hope it's around next month, it's not too late, but I can't guarantee it." Fauci said at a virtual town hall meeting at Blue Star Families, a nonprofit that supports military families.
Fauci also said younger children may need three injections because in Pfizer's clinical trial, two injections did not cause an adequate immune response in children aged 2-4 years.
For children, Pfizer reduced the dose size. For the 12 years and older age group, the vaccine dose is 30 micrograms, while for children 5 to 11 years, the vaccine dose is reduced to 10 micrograms, and the dose for younger children is further reduced to 3 micrograms.
Pfizer announced in December that if the three-dose study is successful, the company plans to submit data to the FDA in the first half of 2022. The company said the 3-microgram dose of the vaccine did not find any safety hazards in children aged 6 months to 4 years.
The hospitalization rate of children doubled in one month
Young children under the age of 5 are currently particularly vulnerable, and they are currently the only age group that is not eligible for vaccination. Hospitalization rates for children with COVID-19 infections have been rising over the past month as the highly contagious omicron variant spread rapidly across the United States.
"Regrettably, we are seeing an increase in hospitalization rates for children aged 0 to 4 years who are not currently eligible for Covid-19 vaccination." Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told reporters on a conference call earlier this month.
According to data collected by the CDC from 250 hospitals in 14 states, nearly eight out of every 100,000 children under the age of 5 had been hospitalized for COVID-19 as of Jan. 8, more than double the hospitalization rate at the beginning of December before Aumecreon became the main variant in the United States.
Valens said earlier this month that there was no indication that the Obi Kerong variant would cause children to develop more serious diseases. She noted that the unprecedented level of transmission of the virus in the wider community may be responsible for the increase in hospitalization rates among children.
![Biden had vowed to "end the virus," and Fauci told the truth: The United States cannot "eradicate" the coronavirus[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)