Pfizer study finds its Covid-19 vaccine is 'effective' on children 'with 3 doses', sparking debate

It was a tweetfrom the French newspaper Le Parisien, on Monday 23 May, that started the fire. The media's Twitter account relayed an article mentioning a press release from Pfizer. According to a study conducted by the pharmaceutical company, the Pfizer vaccine would be 'effective for children aged 6 months with 3 doses.'

Internet users outraged

This information immediately sent Internet users into a frenzy on Twitter, with some worrying about the side effects of the vaccines on very young children. The debate saw particularly strong comments from the the anti-vax community.

Studying the authorisation of the vaccine for young children

However, Pfizer said in its statement that it had obviously adapted the doses for its very young patients. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement:

We are pleased that our formula for the youngest children, which we carefully measured at one tenth of the adult dose, was well tolerated and produced a strong immune response.

The result of this study comes at a time when 'the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has scheduled three meetings in June to study the authorisation of Pfizer's vaccine for childrenunder 5 years of age, and Moderna's vaccine for children under 6 years of age.' reports Le Parisien.

Covid-19 very rarely has serious known effects on children under the age of 5. As Le Parisien reports:

In the United States, 477 deaths have been recorded in this age group since the beginning of the pandemic, i.e. about 0.1% of all deaths.

This article has been translated from Oh!MyMag FR.

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