Camelia Bhattacharyya, Amity University Kolkata
Amongst all the most awaited news, the updates on vaccination are the ones most wanted these days. People have finally become aware of the need for vaccination, and the number of anti-vaxxers has reduced. This has helped the medical community level up their reviews on saving lives, and information regarding the same is being shared every day by international society. Such information has been passed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) very recently. The data is about Pfizer being approved for emergency use in adolescents.
The FDA had previously decided to provide the vaccine to those aged 16 and above on 11th December 2020. This emergency use authorization (EUA) went through a bit of change as the FDA planned to amend it, and now the age group between 12 to 15 years will get vaccinated. But this amendment is only for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine. This would help fight against the pandemic and create herd immunity against the SARS-CoV-2 strain. According to Janet Woodcock, the acting FDA Commissioner, this step is crucial for turning back things into normal once again. She further confirmed that the action has been taken after several reviews and study and there is nothing to be worried about getting their children vaccinated. The vaccine has shown possible and positive results against the pandemic in all age groups. The risks that are confirmed are significantly less and hence ignorant.
The step has been seen as a necessity since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has received information of about 1.5 million cases of infection in the age group between 11 to 17. Though the cases usually are mild with lower risks of deaths, that does not reduce the transmission of the virus to others. Thus, the vaccine must be administered in a series of two doses with a three-week gap in between, just like it has always been done for the rest of the population.
The vaccine will be given after following several guidelines; thus, the FDA has updated the fact sheets for administering the vaccine to let the healthcare workers know the benefits and risks of the vaccines to evaluate who is not supposed to get vaccinated within the allowed age group. The updated list is the result of the trial on 2260 patients, all adolescents. The possible risks recorded are the common chills, tiredness, muscle pain, etc., which are mostly seen in almost every vaccination program. These side-effects last for 2-3 days and are higher after the second dose than the first. This does not mean that everybody will have side effects; some might, while others would not. Also, before administering the vaccine, it is supposed to be confirmed that the recipient is not severely allergic to any of the vaccine components. Severe anaphylaxis should also be reported before receiving a vaccine and those with such condition are advised to not get vaccinated.
The vaccine will surely increase immunogenicity and is thus a major weapon against the ongoing difficult times. All these do not make the vaccine FDA-approved. These are only the EUA approved by the FDA. The FDA might reconsider them and ask for several other trials before giving the final global approval after the situation has been handled and the COVID cases are lessened. Till then, the vaccines stand with a EUA approval which can expire anytime the pandemic has been globally handled. This is since a proper FDA for forever using medical stuff requires more information than available right now. Till then, let the international departments make the emergency choices; all we must do till then is trust their decisions and cooperate with them. Let us hold hands (virtually and in imagination) and fight against this pandemic together.
Also read:Meningitis- creating bacteria: Weapons to destroy our immune system
Source:
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