A booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine sparked a strong immune response in children ages 5 to 11, the companies jointly announced on Thursday.
Pfizer and its partner company BioNTech will request authorization from the Food and Drug Administration to give third doses to children approximately six months after the second dose. A phase 2/3 clinical trial found that the booster raised antibodies against the omicron variant thirty-sixfold compared to levels seen after two shots.
“These data demonstrate an increase in SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant and wild-type strain neutralizing titers following a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine compared to two doses,” the companies said. “These data reinforce the potential function of a third dose of the vaccine in maintaining high levels of protection against the virus in this age group.”
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The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was determined by New York public health officials in February to be vastly less effective against infection from the coronavirus during the omicron surge. They reported that protection from infection in children ages 5 through 11 fell sharply from 68% to just 12% between Dec. 13, 2021, and Jan. 31, 2022, the height of the omicron wave.
They conducted trials of a 3 microgram dose of the COVID-19 vaccine for children under 5 but announced in December it had failed to produce a strong immune response and that adding a third dose would be necessary. The companies submitted the application for authorization of shots for this age group despite the lack of clinical trial data to back them up.
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Still, administering the vaccines to young children has been controversial. Many parents are frustrated that vaccines are not yet available for young children. The majority of the scientific community, including virologists, maintain that children are far less susceptible to severe illness than older adults and those with underlying health conditions, such as diabetes, raising the question of whether young children need a vaccine.
