LONDON, Dec 6 (Reuters) – Britain’s health regulator on
Tuesday authorised a COVID-19 vaccine for infants as young as
six months, opening the door for vaccinating the country’s
youngest children once the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination
and Immunisation (JCVI) agrees.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
(MHRA) authorised the vaccine – made by Pfizer and
BioNTech – for children aged six months to four years
old, after it was deemed safe and effective based on an ongoing
clinical trial involving 4,526 participants.
Whether the vaccine is eventually deployed in this age group
depends on a recommendation from the JCVI, which advises UK
health departments on which shots should be used as part of the
national vaccination programme.
The vaccine is tailored for use in this age group – it is a
lower dose version than the one used in children aged five to 11
years. It is given as three injections in the upper arm, with
the first two doses given three weeks apart, followed by a third
dose administered at least two months after the second dose.
U.S. officials rolled out this version of the
Pfizer-BioNTech shot for the
same age group
earlier this year. Months ago, EU regulators also endorsed
the use of COVID vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna
for under-fives.
(Reporting by Natalie Grover in London; Editing by Jan Harvey,
Alexandra Hudson)
