Pfizer To Seek US Authorisation For 3rd Covid Shot In Children

Third doses of the vaccine are recommended for those aged 12 and up, and a fourth dose was recently recommended for people over 50.

Pfizer and BioNTech on Thursday announced positive results from a clinical trial on the safety and immune response of a third dose of their Covid vaccine in children aged five through 11, adding they would soon seek regulatory authorization.

Third doses of the vaccine are recommended for those aged 12 and up, and a fourth dose was recently recommended for people over 50.

Younger children -- except for those with immune compromising conditions -- have not been eligible for the third, making them more susceptible to infection from Omicron and its BA.2 subvariant.

BA.2 is now the globally dominant strain, and is behind a current spike in cases in the northeastern United States.