Pfizer
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday it had received reports of eight cases of myocarditis, a type of heart inflammation, in children aged 5-11 years who received Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine.
https://news.yahoo.com/cdc-reports-heart-inflammation-cases-211151170.html
=Pfizer==
Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine trial in children ages 2-5 suggests the vaccine is safe but not effective enough to prevent infection with COVID-19, and the companies have decided to add a third dose to their trial. The move will push off the final results well into next year.
Pfizer’s head of vaccine research and development, Kathrin Jansen, said that for children under 5, the company had settled on a dose of 3 micrograms — down from 10 micrograms in older children and 30 micrograms in adults. This dose was chosen, she said, because it reduced side effects, particularly fever, in small children.
But interim results in the research trial suggest two doses, given 21 days apart, do not generate enough protective antibodies believed necessary to prevent COVID-19 infection. Young children may need three shots at this dose to receive full protection, she said, with the third dose coming at least two months after the second.
Pfizer and its partner BioNTech expect to file for emergency use of their vaccine in children under 5 in the second quarter of 2022, Jansen said. The companies are also evaluating a third vaccine dose in children ages 5 through 15, who are now authorized to receive only two doses.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/12/17/covid-vaccine-mandate-cases-health-care-workers/8933003002/
Pfizer
== So the study is being expanded to evaluate three of those very low-dose shots in children under 5. That third shot will come at least two months after the youngsters’ second dose.
No safety concerns have been spotted in the study, the companies said.==
Pfizer said Friday it was changing plans and testing three doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in babies and preschoolers instead of the usual two.
The addition of an extra dose came after a preliminary analysis found 2- to 4-year-olds didn’t have as strong an immune response as expected to special low-dose shots.
Pfizer had planned to release data from its study of children under 5 by the end of the year. It’s not clear how this change will delay the quest to vaccinate the youngest children.
Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said if the three-dose study is successful, they plan to apply for emergency authorization sometime in the first half of 2022.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-aud-nw-pfizer-covid-vaccine-kids-20211217-knkpy7yngjfgnguawfe5ztdc5u-story.html
Dec 17 (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) on Friday forecast that the COVID-19 pandemic would not be behind us until 2024 and said a lower-dose version of its vaccine for 2- to 4-year-olds generated a weaker immune response than expected, potentially delaying authorization.
Pfizer Chief Scientific Officer Mikael Dolsten said in a presentation to investors that the company expects some regions to continue to see pandemic levels of COVID-19 cases over the next year or two. Other countries will transition to "endemic" with low, manageable caseloads during that same time period.
By 2024, the disease should be endemic around the globe, the company projected.
"When and how exactly this happens will depend on evolution of the disease, how effectively society deploys vaccines and treatments, and equitable distribution to places where vaccination rates are low," Dolsten said. "The emergence of new variants could also impact how the pandemic continues to play out."
Pfizer developed its COVID-19 vaccine with Germany's BioNTech SE (22UAy.DE), and currently expects it to generate revenue of $31 billion next year. It plans to make 4 billion shots next year.
The drugmaker also has an experimental antiviral pill called Paxlovid which reduced hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk individuals by nearly 90% in a clinical trial. Three analysts estimate sales of $15 billion to $25 billion for it next year, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/pfizer-test-additional-third-dose-covid-19-vaccine-trial-children-2021-12-17/
I’m a little off my game today. Red text fails & forgetting to crop pictures.
Pfizer
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida spoke by phone with Pfizer Inc. CEO Albert Burla on Friday, apparently to ensure a fast supply of COVID-19 vaccines for booster shots amid the global spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Japan, which lacks home-developed vaccines, has so far approved booster shots from U.S. pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna Inc. Japan is moving to shorten the interval between second jabs and boosters from eight months to six amid a global upsurge in cases and fears of more community transmissions at home.
Kishida was believed to have asked Burla to speed up the supply schedule accordingly.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno confirmed the talks between Kishida and Burla but declined to give further details. He said the prime minister planned to explain vaccination plans later Friday.
https://apnews.com/fff65508d91b57e7fd84da729897514b