Local Pediatrician Offers Advice To Parents After Pfizer Requests COVID-19 Vaccine Use In Children Under 5
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel could be getting brighter for the millions of parents of young children in the United States. Pfizer on Tuesday asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to allow low-dose COVID-19 vaccine shots for children up to 5 years old.
A local pediatrician spoke with Eyewitness News on Tuesday night about what she wants to see before the approval is given.
Tuesday's news has parents with children under the age of 5 asking a ton of questions about when the vaccine might be available for their kids, why it's taken so long to get to this point, and most importantly, what's next. Jennifer Coren of Hatboro Pediatrics spoke with CBS3 to break down what the news means.
"What this tells us is that Pfizer today is submitting information for 6 months old to 5 years olds to see if the vaccine that they have is safe and effective for that age group," Coren said.
Pfizer's announcement Tuesday is a major step, and a positive one, but the wait for parents of children between 6 months old and 5 years old is not yet over.
"It's a process," Coren said. "We're usually blinded from this process. We usually don't see it in real-time and this has been such an in-your-face process with the COVID vaccine understandably. It just feels like forever."
The COVID-19 vaccine is the fastest ever developed. Most vaccines take much longer to produce and come to the market, but not surprisingly, Coren has been inundated with calls following Tuesday's news.
"Parents are calling, family members are calling. Parents are already going on the portal for a vaccine center trying to register their children," Coren said. "I keep on telling them, we are way too early. We are just at the very tip of the iceberg, we need data."
So, if you're an anxious parent who can't wait to get your child the vaccine or an apprehensive one with tons of questions, Coren has this advice for everyone.
"They have to let the process run its course, be patient with it," Coren said. "But it's very exciting to think that maybe in the next six to eight weeks we could have a vaccine in arms for our youngest and most vulnerable population."
Now it's in the scientists' hands. The FDA will deduce if Pfizer's vaccines are safe, and when they're done, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will determine if they're appropriate given the data they receive. If the vaccine passes those rigorous tests, they could be in arms in mid-March, just about two years since the 2020 quarantine.