Question: What’s the status of vaccines for little kids?

Answer: It’s still sounding like if all goes well, we could have vaccines for school-age children later this fall (think: November-ish). Currently, Pfizer is the only vaccine approved for use among children ages 12+ in the United States.  The vaccine– in lower doses– is in clinical trials for children ages 6 months to 11 years old.  The Phase 1 clinical trials among younger children began in March 2021, with the aim of investigating safety, efficacy, and tolerability.  Based on the results from the 144 children who participated in the phase 1 trial, Pfizer announced on June 8th that it had advanced to Phase 2/3 clinical trials using 10 micrograms of each vaccine dose for children ages 5-11 and 3 micrograms of each dose for children ages 6 months- under 5 years.  These are much lower doses than the 30 micrograms provided in each dose for people ages 12+.  On June 15th, NBC News reported that “Pfizer said in a statement to NBC News it anticipates results on its clinical trials in kids ages 5 to 11 sometime in September, and then could apply for emergency use authorization. “Data for kids 2 and under 5 could arrive soon after that,” the company said, adding that results on kids ages 6 months up to 2 years may not be released until October or November.”  Unlike COVID vaccine trials in adults, which required 2 months of safety follow-up time, NBC News also reports that the FDA is requiring 4-6 months of safety follow-up time for vaccine trials among children.  When it comes to the other two vaccines approved for use in the United States: Moderna’s vaccine is also currently in clinical trials for children ages 6 months to <12 years.  Data from its study among children ages 12-17 is currently being analyzed; J&J will likely go to clinical trials for children ages 12-17 in the fall.