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COVID-19 Vaccines for Babies and Toddlers
FDA and CDC approve two vaccines for children under 5
On June 17th, the FDA amended its Emergency Use Authorization to include two different vaccines for children six months and older.
The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine consists of two doses, one month apart. A third dose is authorized for individuals in this age group who are immunocompromised. Protection is complete 42 days after the first dose.
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine consists of two doses three weeks apart and a third dose at least eight weeks after the second dose. Peak protection occurs at 90 days.
Efficacy
Among clinical participants six to 23 months of age, the Moderna vaccine was found to be 50.6% effective in preventing COVID-19. Among those two to five years of age, it was 36.8% effective.
While Pfizer claims an efficacy rate of 80.3% after three doses, that figure is considered unreliable because it is based on just ten symptomatic COVID-19 cases. According to comments to the New York Times by Sarah Long, MD, pediatric infectious disease expert and member of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), “We should just assume we don’t have efficacy data.”
