WASHINGTON (AP) – The government’s top infectious disease expert said Friday that he hopes some children will get vaccinated against COVID-19 in the coming months. It is a necessary step to ensure broad immunity to the virus.
Vaccines are not yet approved for children, but testing is already underway for children from the age of 12.
If those trials are successful, Dr. Anthony Fauci said they would be followed by another round of testing up to the age of 9.
“Hopefully by the time we arrive in late spring and early summer we will have children who can be vaccinated,” Fauci said during a White House briefing on the coronavirus.
Fauci looked forward to a time when vaccines will be plentiful. Even older adults are struggling to take pictures right now. On Thursday, only about 1.3% of Americans had been fully vaccinated with the required two doses of currently available vaccines.
Children represent about a quarter of the population, and to achieve US “herd immunity,” or widespread resistance, about 70% to 85% of the population must be vaccinated.
“Children don’t usually get as seriously ill as adults, but they can still get sick and some have died tragically,” said Dr. Leana Wen, a public health expert and emergency room physician who supports Fauci’s cause. “Children can also be a transmission vector, and it is important to have children vaccinated as we strive for immunity to the herd.”
The Pfizer BioNTech vaccine has an emergency approval for use in people 16 years of age and older. Moderna’s vaccine is for people 18 years of age and older.
Pfizer’s clinical trial for children ages 12 to 15 is fully enrolled, and the drug manufacturer may apply for an emergency permit from the Food and Drug Administration for children 12 and older sometime in the first half of this year. Moderna’s process for ages 12-17 is still recruiting.
Since initial tests to validate the safety and effectiveness of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines involved tens of thousands of people, age-related tests on children can be performed in smaller groups.
“You don’t want to … have to undergo an efficacy trial involving tens of thousands of children,” explained Fauci. “What you can do is in a much smaller trial, measured in hundreds to several thousand … what we call safety and … immunogenicity.” This is a term for whether the vaccine successfully elicits a response from the immune system.
After a frustratingly slow start, the US is now giving about 1 million injections per day to adults, although that rate is still considered insufficient. President Joe Biden has talked about 1.5 million shots a day, if possible. His government has set a target of 100 million shots in the first 100 days.
Two more vaccines from US companies are nearing the stage where the FDA can evaluate them for approval. One from Johnson & Johnson only requires one shot.
Biden has also made a goal of reopening most schools by the summer and has instructed government agencies to work with communities to move this forward.
Its US Rescue Plan legislation in Congress is calling for $ 50 billion to fund a major expansion of testing, which is seen as necessary for the safe reopening of schools and businesses. That’s because robust testing can detect early outbreaks before they spread through a community and lead to closure. Testing in the US got off to a chaotic start and experts say it is still below par in many parts of the country.