Co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of BioNTech Ozlem Tureci said Friday that her German company is working to create a COVID-19 vaccine for children under age 12 within a few weeks. In the upcoming weeks, they will present to laboratories around the world the results of their study dedicated to creating a COVID-19 vaccine for children between the ages of five and 11. They would then apply for approval of the vaccine for this age group, Tureci was quoted as saying by the weekly magazine Der Spiegel. BioNTech started preparing for production of the vaccine, which is similar to the one for adults; yet at a lower dose, she added. Results of the study are ready and must be submitted to competent authorities, she underlined, reassuring that everything is going according to plan. Earlier, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 had secured US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) emergency use authorization for the vaccine in children ages 12 through 15. The FDA had also approved this vaccine, now called Comirnaty, to prevent COVID-19 in people age 16 and older. The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine requires two injections given 21 days apart. The second dose can be given up to six weeks after the first dose, if needed. Research has shown that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is 100% effective in preventing the COVID-19 virus in children ages 12 through 15. The vaccine is 91% effective in preventing severe illness with COVID-19 in people age 16 and older. Early research also suggests that the vaccine is 96% effective at preventing severe disease with the COVID-19 virus caused by the Delta variant, the most common COVID-19 variant in the US right now. The FDA reviewed a study of more than 2,200 US children ages 12 through 15. Of this group, about half were given the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The other children were given a harmless fake (placebo) shot. A week after the second dose was given, research showed no cases of COVID-19 in the 1,005 children given the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Among 978 children given the placebo, there were 16 cases of COVID-19. None of the children had previously been diagnosed with COVID-19. The results suggest that the vaccine is 100% effective at preventing the COVID-19 virus in this age group. A COVID-19 vaccine can prevent your child from getting and spreading the COVID-19 virus. If your child gets COVID-19, a COVID-19 vaccine could prevent him or her from becoming severely ill. Getting a COVID-19 vaccine will also allow your child to start doing things that he or she might not have been able to do because of the pandemic, including not wearing a mask or social distancing in any setting — except where required by a rule or law. — Agencies
