Posted on 03/31/2021 3:33:20 PM PDT by definitelynotaliberal
Pfizer announced Wednesday that its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and strongly protective in kids as young as 12, a step toward possibly beginning shots in that age group before they head back to school in the fall.
Most COVID-19 vaccines being rolled out worldwide are for adults, who are at higher risk from the coronavirus. Pfizer's vaccine is authorized for ages 16 and older. But vaccinating children of all ages will be critical to stopping the pandemic - and helping schools, at least the upper grades, start to look a little more normal after months of disruption.
In a study of 2,260 U.S. volunteers aged 12 to 15, preliminary data showed there were no cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated adolescents compared to 18 among those given placebo shots, Pfizer reported.
Pfizer said the study "demonstrated 100% efficacy and robust antibody responses, exceeding those recorded earlier in vaccinated participants aged 16 to 25 years old, and was well tolerated."
It's a small study and hasn't yet been published, so another important piece of evidence is how well the shots revved up the kids' immune systems. Researchers reported high levels of virus-fighting antibodies, somewhat higher than were seen in studies of young adults.
Kids had side effects similar to young adults, the company said. The main ones are pain, fever, chills and fatigue, particularly after the second dose. The study will continue to track participants for two years for more information about long-term protection and safety.
Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech in the coming weeks plan to ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European regulators to allow emergency use of the shots starting at age 12.
"We share the urgency to expand the use of our vaccine," Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement. He expressed "the hope of starting to vaccinate this age group before the start of the next school year" in the United States.
BioNTech CEO and co-founder Ugur Sahin said in a statement that, "Across the globe, we are longing for a normal life. This is especially true for our children. The initial results we have seen in the adolescent studies suggest that children are particularly well protected by vaccination, which is very encouraging given the trends we have seen in recent weeks regarding the spread of the B.1.1.7 UK variant" first identified in Britain.
Pfizer isn't the only company seeking to lower the age limit for its vaccine. Results also are expected soon from a U.S. study of Moderna's vaccine in 12- to 17-year-olds.
But in a sign that the findings were promising, the FDA already allowed both companies to begin U.S. studies in children 11 and younger, working their way to as young as 6-month-old.
AstraZeneca last month began a study of its vaccine among 6- to 17-year-olds in Britain. Johnson & Johnson is planning its own pediatric studies. And in China, Sinovac recently announced it has submitted preliminary data to Chinese regulators showing its vaccine is safe in children as young as 3.
While most COVID-19 vaccines being used globally were first tested in tens of thousands of adults, pediatric studies won't need to be nearly as large. Scientists have safety information from those studies and from subsequent vaccinations in millions more adults.
One key question is the dosage: Pfizer gave the 12-and-older participants the same dose adults receive, while testing different doses in younger children.
It's not clear how quickly the FDA would act on Pfizer's request to allow vaccination starting at age 12. Another question is when the country would have enough supply of shots - and people to get them into adolescents' arms - to let kids start getting in line.
Supplies are set to steadily increase over the spring and summer, at the same time states are opening vaccinations to younger, healthier adults who until now haven't had a turn.
Children represent about 13% of COVID-19 cases documented in the U.S. And while children are far less likely than adults to get seriously ill, at least 268 have died from COVID-19 in the U.S. and more than 13,500 have been hospitalized, according to a tally by the American Academy of Pediatrics. That's more than die from the flu in an average year. In addition, a small number have developed a serious inflammatory condition linked to the coronavirus.
My wife and I disagree vehemently on the COVID response but agree 100% on the vaccine. No way hell no to getting it for our kids. My wife is worried it could become a terms of employment for herself. She is not keen on taking a fast tracked vaccine.
Who already have a near zero percent chance of dying when they get infected. I would lean towards letting young people get the vaccine there is no longer in question of any long term adverse effects - which obviously can’t be know yet.
Welcome to Jonestown.
Take the jab.
Drink the Kool Aid.
This is like touting a brand new birth control for senior citizens.
I am my own boss. Thankfully. I wouldn’t want my employer dictating that I get the vaccine. I am ambivalent to it, frankly. If someone brings it to me, fine. Otherwise, I have a lot to do besides get in the rat race of finding the vaccine. I meet so many people each day, and I would say 65% of those potential clients I come in contact with think the covid hysteria is just that: hysteria, I’ve been invited into countless homes in the last month. Sat down in the living room, had a great talk. Obviously I must live in a conservative world of smart folks. Having said that, I would be the one to get covid and have lasting effects. I am 67.
“Now let’s look at the adverse reaction reports for the covid vaccines, which have been given over the last five months. There have been 44,464 adverse reaction reports, death is 1627 of those.”
Actually the numbers are much worse than that. Nexstar just reported that over 205,000 vaccine adverse effects have been reported to VAERS. And the CDC reported there have been 2,509 deaths after vax as of March 29.
VAERS is heavily back logged in PUBLISHING the adverse events that have been reported to them. They are still catching up on reports from early January...originally published as 200-400 events per day and subsequently sequentially revised each week to approximately 3,000 per day for those same January days as of March 26.
It’s going to be quite a while before they catch up though they have given additional money ($16 million) to General Dynamics (which handles the VAERS) for GD to hire additional staff.
What's Nexstar?
That’s why they can say the vaccine works so good. They really don’t get covid bad anyway. What a farce.
My folks are in their late eighties. Got the virus and got over it in a few days with no drama.
But, nevertheless, they were convinced they needed to take the shot and did. And the booster. They had mild side effects, but got over it.
I’m roughly your age, but I won’t take it. But my dad didn’t ask my opinion. :)
Gee. that’s great you scum bag vaccine losers!
I can say for a fact my 11 year old and my 15-year-old are never getting any shot from any of the government supported lying crook vaccine peddler poisoning asswipes
Nexstar Media Wire
https://www.nxsttv.com/nmw/news/data-severe-reactions-to-the-covid-19-vaccines-are-very-rare/
Yes, VAERS very behind. I had a great animated link that showed you over a four week period the early info being updated. It is mind boggling! Here is the link, but it no longer directly takes you to that chart, but just scroll down quite a bit and you will find two yellow background charts (March 19 and then March 26 which is the latest.)
https://twitter.com/birb_k/with_replies
Worth looking at in order to understand what is REALLY going on.
The group least likely to get sick from it in the first place
1/ More evidence of a massive backlog in making #Covid vaccine side effect reports public - each VAERS report gets a unique ID, numbered roughly sequentially. Thus in 30+ years pre-Covid (to Dec. 2020) VAERS had received 770,000 reports, and it was at roughly VAERS ID #902,000... pic.twitter.com/AV4M4pp2xi— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) March 28, 2021
VAERS is tens of thousands of reports behind. European database now has more than 100,000 reports for the pfizer covid shot alone. The rate of new reports is rapidly outpacing the publishing of old reports. pic.twitter.com/DroiwyyJ1S— Luiz (@Luizmd7) March 27, 2021
I will, and I look forward to suing their asses when I get fired.
Going to be a lot more home schooling.
If I had a disabled or very sick child age 12 - 15, I’d likely have the child vaccinated.
A healthy, robust child on the other hand I would not have vaccinated. Hell, I’d send him/her to “COVID-19 parties” until natural antibodies and immunity were achieved. I’d lobby the school board to change the distance between classroom rows to ONE FOOT. Make the elementary and middle school students have to squeeze out sideways to exit their rows. Forbid covering of their mouths when sneezing or coughing.
For adults I’m still in favor of voluntary vaccinations.
LONG LIVE HERD IMMUNITY!
Yes, that one is on a different site, but it is the same as the earlier one...March 19. The latest one is on the site I linked.
The next round of people waiting to be sterilized.
Very sobering. I was miserable the day after both the first and the second dose of the Moderna vaccine: throbbing headache, chills and very tired. I think that vaccination is the right choice for many people, but you have to know what you’re getting into. You should be as well as possible on the day of the vaccination. You should have medications available to lessen the after effects, particularly the headaches.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.