The Food and Drug Administration appears to be poised to authorize use of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in adolescents 12 to 15 years old by early next week, according to multiple reports.
The New York Times first reported on Monday night that federal officials familiar with the agency’s plans said that the FDA is still working on the authorization, which would open up Pfizer and German firm BioNTech’s vaccine currently only approved for people 16 and older to millions more people. The Washington Post matched that reporting.
After the FDA reaches its decision, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee is expected to meet to recommend how the vaccine should be used, the papers said.
The development comes after Pfizer announced in late March that results from its trial in adolescents showed its vaccine was at least as effective in adolescents from that age group as it is in adults.
While some parents have been eager to get their adolescents vaccinated, a campaign to sow doubt over administering the vaccine to teenagers, is already underway.
Fox New host Tucker Carlson, who last week suggested that masking children in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus amounted to “child abuse,” has taken aim at former President Barack Obama for urging teenagers over the age of 16 (who were already approved to safely get the vaccine) to do so.
Obama is eight years older than Tucker Carlson https://t.co/6xSRqpOkxE
— Thor Benson (@thor_benson) May 4, 2021
The comments, sowing doubt over the safety of the vaccine, even among an already-approved group, comes as some experts have suggested that vaccinating children could be key in raising immunity levels in the population and limiting hospitalizations and deaths.
It’ll be a huge mess requiring students be vaccinated in order to attend school, even though all states require vaccinations for the most common diseases. I have no doubt many states will resist just because it’s the corona virus vaccine.
Huge deal as parents can protect kids from more infectious variants. For many families, they can’t feel truly free from COVID unless kids are able to get a vaccine. This also removes a dependence on Trumper cooperation to protect the vulnerable. Now, with 12-16 year olds able to get vaccinated starting likely in late May/June, the pandemic will evolve to a phenomenon experienced by Trumpers and assorted vaccine skeptics. Unvaccinated kids (whose parents are vaccine skeptics) will present a challenge, but if others are vaccinated the scope of any outbreak can be limited. The challenge, of course, is playing roulette with variants. That said, the major vaccines appear to have relatively good protection against variants and will keep folks out of the hospital even if infections happen.
The formal approval of Pfizer by the FDA expected later this month will also enable more employers and the Fed Gov’t to require vaccination of employees. I would love to see the FAA require vaccination to get on a plane. I would like to see if OSHA may be able to require vaccination for large employers. I want to see the Department of Education get more active on pushing for vaccination at colleges and universities.
Although the untimely J&J pause coincided with a sizable drop in vaccinations, we only need to vaccinate another 27M mil or so to get to 67% of adults vaccinated with at least 1 dose. If we vaccinate 2 million per day, and 30%-40% are net new persons receiving their first dose (or a J&J dose) I think we can get there by June. Add teenagers to the mix in the summer and likely younger kids in the fall, and the Trumpers can practice the art of the self-own among their own flock and get each other sick while the rest of us can mostly go about our business and enjoy the benefits of freedom.
Pushing the J&J vaccine gets us to herd immunity quicker because of the advantages of a single dose and the relative ease of storage. Hope J&J is featured more this month and into June/July.
Bill Gates and Mattel are behind all this. Once vaccinated young boys will develop an uncontrollable desire top play with Barbie dolls.
It’s in the Bible.
So by all means, let’s work against that, and in favor of more hospitalization and death. How do people like Tucker sleep at night?
I didn’t believe you, so I looked. And there it was, right next to the bit about baby Jesus riding the dinosaur to William F. Buckley’s inauguration. I learn something new every day.