Pfizer vax may be authorised for 5-yr-olds by Oct: Ex-FDA chief

US drugmaker Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is likely to get authorization for providing vaccines to children aged between 5 and 12 by October, according to Scott Gottlieb, former head of the Food and Drug Administration.

Currently, of the three COVID-19 vaccines used in the US, only the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been granted emergency use authorization for children aged 12 and older.

Pfizer along with Moderna and Johnson and Johnson are conducting clinical trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the vaccines in children under 12.

Results of the Pfizer vaccine for children are expected in September.

“Pfizer will be in a position to file data with the FDA at some point next month, and then submit its application to expand its emergency use authorization for its vaccine in children 5 years and older as early as October,” Gottlieb was quoted as saying in an interview on CBS News on Sunday.

“The agency (FDA) will be in a position to make an authorization, I believe, at some point, late fall, probably early winter.

“And probably they’re going to base their decision on what the circumstances around the country, what the urgency is to get to a vaccine for kids,” Gottlieb, who is also a member of Pfizer’s board of directors, told CBC News.

Pfizer has also been conducting clinical trials of its COVID-19 shot in children ages 2 and older.