This question is posed by many: When will children be able to be administered COVID-19 vaccines? Apparently, it is conditional on the child's age. However, some teenagers could be rolling up their sleeves soon.
When Will a COVID-19 Vaccine Be Available for Children?
Johnson & Johnson would most likely have a novel coronavirus vaccine made available for children under 18 years old by September, according to CEO Alex Gorsky. He stated it is possible to transpire in that timeline. The good news is that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is already working with companies to implement clear regulatory guidelines for collating adequate data.
Across the nation, the coronavirus vaccine dissemination is expanding from healthcare workers and individuals who reside in long-term care facilities to older adults, essential workers, and people with chronic medical conditions, depending on location. Two vaccines have been permitted so far. One vaccine was developed by Moderna and is authorized for individuals aged 18 and older, and one by Pfizer authorized for individuals 16 and older.
Clinical trials for children are planned or underway. According to experts, a wave of vaccinations could be the final step to mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic, reported Healthline.
Each day, more people are being administered their COVID-19 inoculations. Nearly 77 million doses have been administered in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Children remain not to receive the vaccine. Experts are in unison that they will need to be immunized for life to return to the old normal, reported Today.
Since the Pfizer vaccine is already authorized for use starting at 16 years old, several high schoolers could get in line for those doses either whenever they become qualified in their location, once availability opens up, and due to a medical condition.
According to Gorsky, one benefit of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is that this certain type of vaccine has been used in lower age groups earlier. He remarked, "The AdVac 26 was used extensively among broad age groups, young and old in Africa when we were developing this for other conditions such as Ebola and HIV. So it gives us reasons to be optimistic regarding the safety profile in that patient population, but we still have to do the clinical work," reported CNN.
Inoculating young people will be important to approach herd immunity and remarkably slow the coronavirus's prevalence in the U.S. The FDA has particular protections and regulations for testing new medications in children to diminish risk.
An estimated 15 percent of individuals in the United States have been administered at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Almost 20 percent of the population of the United States is not currently qualified to receive the vaccine.
The earlier clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines did not involve kids. This is standard practice, particularly for non-pediatric diseases. But in autumn, Pfizer initiated its adolescent trial in kids as young as 12, with more pharmaceutical companies following suit.
