WASHINGTON (AP) – The government’s leading expert on infectious diseases said on Friday it hopes some children will be vaccinated against COVID-19 in the next few months. This is an essential step to ensure the wide immunity against the virus.
Vaccinations have not yet been approved for children, but there is already testing for children as young as 12 years old.
If the trials are successful, dr. Anthony Fauci said it will be followed by another round of testing to 9-year-olds.
“Hopefully we will be able to vaccinate children by late spring and early summer,” Fauci said during a coronavirus briefing in the White House.
Fauci is looking forward to a time when vaccinations will be plentiful. Even older adults are currently struggling to get shots. As of Thursday, only about 1.3% of Americans were fully vaccinated with the required two doses of currently available vaccinations.
Children represent about a quarter of the population, and for the U.S. to achieve “herd immunity” or widespread resistance, about 70% to 85% of the population must be vaccinated.
“Children tend not to get as badly ill as adults, but they can still get sick and some are tragically dead,” said Dr. Leana Wen, an expert in public health and medical consulting room, said, who supports Fauci’s goal. “Children can also be transmission vectors, and vaccinating children is important because we strive for herd immunity.”
The Pfizer BioNTech vaccine has emergency authorization for use in people 16 years of age and older. Modern vaccination is for 18 and older.
Pfizer’s clinical trial for children 12 to 15 is fully enrolled and the drug manufacturer can apply for emergency permission from the Food and Drug Administration for children 12 and older in the first half of this year. Moderna’s trial for ages 12-17 is still recruiting.
Since tens of thousands of people were involved in the initial tests to validate the safety and efficacy of the Pfizer and Modern vaccines, the age-related tests can be done on children with smaller groups.
“You do not want to have to undergo an efficiency test where you involve tens of thousands of children,” Fauci explained. ‘What you can do is a much smaller trial, measured in hundreds to several thousands … which we call safety and … immunogenicity. ‘This is a term for whether the vaccine successfully elicits an immune system response.
After a frustratingly slow start, the US now gives about 1 million shots a day to adults, although the rate is still considered inadequate. President Joe Biden has talked about 1.5 million shots a day, if that can be done. His administration set a goal of 100 million shots in the first 100 days.
Two more vaccines from US companies are approaching the stage where the FDA can evaluate them for approval. One from Johnson & Johnson only needs one shot.
Biden also set a goal of reopening most schools by the summer, and has urged government agencies to work with communities to promote it.
His U.S. rescue plan legislation in Congress is asking for $ 50 billion to fund a major expansion of testing, which is essential for the safe reopening of schools and businesses. This is because robust testing can detect early outbreaks before spreading through a community and causing closures. Tests in the US have had a chaotic start, and experts believe that in many parts of the country it is still not important.