And the US Food and Drug Administration said, on Friday, that it had postponed a special meeting to discuss the review of data on the “Pfizer” vaccine, and the approval of two doses of this vaccine for children between the ages of 6 months and 4 years, according to what the American network “CNN” reported.
The US authorities want the manufacturer to send data on current trials of the three-dose regimen on these children, before proceeding with the granting of an emergency use license for these children.
Washington wants to know all the available data on all vaccination regimes.
And “Pfizer” said, Friday, that it expects to deliver the data for the current experiments in early April.
It is noteworthy that the company had previously submitted a request to approve the use of its vaccine for children.
In the United States, as in many countries, vaccines are given to children over 5 years old, and if the Food and Drug Administration approves Pfizer’s request, it will be the first vaccine available to younger children.
The current plan is to offer 10 million vaccines initially within the United States, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the Food Administration’s Vaccine Committee, says he is pleased with the US authorities’ decision.
He added that if things went as planned, and the meeting was held on February 15, and a vote was taken against licensing the vaccine based on two doses, this would be a message to the people that something was wrong with the vaccine.
He pointed out that this would have a negative impact, even if the committee met months later and voted “yes.”
He added: “My word to parents with young children is that this (the meeting adjournment) is not a ‘no’, it’s a ‘not yet’.
