There has been an update given for the progress on the COVID-19 vaccine for children under the age of 12 years old. The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the lives of children everywhere, as they had to stop seeing their friends and family, and even school was changed and they had to learn remotely. A vaccine has been the promise of a return to normal life, and this is something that parents want for their children. However, a vaccine for young children is not ready yet. Pfizer has recently had their vaccine authorized for children from 12 to 18, but they are still working on the younger children.

According to Huffington Post and Reuters, there has been an update on the progress of this vaccine. Pfizer has announced that they are expanding their testing for children under 12, and it is a step in the right direction for getting this vaccine in younger arms.

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Pfizer is ready to enroll 4,500 youth volunteers at more than 90 sites, and they are worldwide. They are looking for volunteers from the US, Finland, Poland, and Spain. The company has already completed its first-step study in a small number of children in order to test different dosages.

They have already begun to enroll 5 to 11-year old’s earlier this week, and these children will receive two vaccine dosages of 10 micrograms each. This is just a third of the dose that is given to teenagers and adults. Children in the study will either receive the vaccine or a placebo.

In a few weeks, the company will include children as young as 6 months old using a dosage of just 3 micrograms. Their first study showed that there was good tolerability and immune response in 144 children, and now they are working on correct dosage amounts.

They have already stated that they are expecting the data from this study to be available in September, and they would likely be asking for emergency use authorization by the end of the month. They are also foreseeing that data on children from 2 to 5 will arrive shortly after that. When it comes to children from 6 months old to 2 years old, they are expecting to have this data by November.

While it may still seem like a long time to wait, it could be a very real possibility that children will have the vaccine by the end of the year.

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Sources: Huffington Post, Reuters