Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during a hearing in the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Work and Pensions (HELP) on Capitol Hill in Washington, USA
Kevin Dietsch | Reuters
The United States could begin vaccinating older children against Covid-19 this fall, while elementary-aged children could begin receiving shots early next year, the medical doctor told lawmakers on Wednesday. of the White House, Dr. Anthony Fauci.
“For high school students, it looks like they will be available to get vaccinated in the early fall, most likely during the fall period,” Fauci told lawmakers during a hearing with the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Fauci said researchers will likely have enough data on vaccinations for children under 12 or under to start shooting them in the first quarter of 2022.
The Food and Drug Administration authorized Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines for people over the age of 18, while the Pfizer vaccine can be used in people up to the age of 16.
Drug manufacturers are rapidly testing their coronavirus vaccines in children to determine if they are safe and effective. Both Pfizer and Moderna began testing their vaccines in teens late last year.
On Tuesday, Moderna said it has begun dosing younger children at an early or late stage to determine if their vaccine, mRNA-1273, can be used to immunize children six months to 12 years old. . The study, which will enroll some 6,750 children in the United States and Canada, will test the company’s two-dose vaccine 28 days apart.
However, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said in January that he does not expect data for children under 12 to be ready by 2022, although he predicts more information on vaccine performance among older people. 12 years before September.
“I don’t think the trials will take long,” Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the FDA’s vaccine advisory committee, told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith.”
“I think it’s very likely that children over the age of 12 can have vaccines for them until the summer, and for younger children, we may have vaccines by the end of this year, at the beginning of the next year, ”Offit said.
A Pfizer spokesman was not immediately available to comment on the company’s progress in testing its vaccine in younger children.