A momentous days in the battle to suppress the many, many ill-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has been reached on Thursday with the news that the European Medicines Regulator have formally approved the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children.
Kids aged 5-11 will be able to receive a lower dose of the vaccine than adults. The National Immunisation Advisory Commitee will now evaluate the evidence before passing on their findings and recommendation to government.
In a statement, the EMA said the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks: “The most common side effects in children aged 5 to 11 are similar to those in people aged 12 and above.
“They include pain at the injection site, tiredness, headache, redness and swelling at the site of injection, muscle pain and chills. These effects are usually mild or moderate and improve within a few days of vaccination.”
The EMA data shows that the vaccine is 90% effective at preventing symptomatic disease in youngsters, but pointedly refers to a potentially much higher or much lower true effectiveness
Tanaiste Leo Varadkar told the Dáil today that he expects ”NIAC in the next couple of days to approve vaccines for those aged 5 to 11 and we’ll have approval for that too.”
‼️ EMA recommends approval of BioNTech/Pfizer’s #COVID19vaccine, Comirnaty, for children aged 5 to 11.
In this population, the dose of #Comirnaty will be lower than that used in people aged 12 and above.
Read the full press release: https://t.co/uqqBAklVvl pic.twitter.com/NZQhli4SDl
— EU Medicines Agency (@EMA_News) November 25, 2021
