Feb 12, 2022 - Health

Experts praise Pfizer's delay on kids' vaccines

Tina Reed

Illustration of a blue teddy bear with orange band-aid on its arm. — Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios

Pfizer's decision to pump the brakes on COVID vaccines for kids younger than 5 was a good call, experts tell Axios.

Driving the news: Pfizer decided not to seek an FDA authorization until it has more data about how well its vaccine works after three doses. An FDA committee had been slated to consider the data for a two-dose regimen next week.

What they're saying: "This was a three-dose vaccine," said Paul Offit, a member of the FDA committee and director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "I think this worked out for the best."

"The plan to have two doses be given while awaiting data on a third dose never made sense to me," Leana Wen, an emergency physician and public health professor at George Washington University told Axios. "You can't just approve something and say it's safe and effective if you haven't seen the data."

What's next: Pfizer expects to have data about a three-dose vaccine in kids under 5 by April.

Moderna had said before Pfizer's announcement yesterday that it planned to submit data to the FDA in March about how well its vaccine works in kids.

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Experts praise Pfizer's delay on kids' vaccines

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