The results from Pfizer's trial of their vaccine's effect on young children will be presented to the FDA Tuesday. If approved, parents of children under the age of 5 can start getting their kids vaccinated sooner than previously expected.
But it's not yet clear what the results will be, and how this will impact the ongoing pandemic.
The tests have been done on children 6 to 23 months of age, and children aged 2 to 4, said Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, professor of health and infectious diseases, pediatrics, and epidemiology and population health at Stanford University on KCBS Radio's "Ask an Expert" with Holly Quan and Eric Thomas on Tuesday.
"This vaccine trial is a dose that's one-tenth of the adult dose, because it provides a very safe profile – very low risk for fevers and other side effects you don’t want to see in children," said Maldonado.
Preliminary results showed that while children 6 to 23 showed good antibody response to the vaccine, similar to those getting doses aged 12 and up. But 2 to 4-year-olds didn't show the same antibody response.
"We don't know what that means exactly," she said. "It may be that they're going to be looking at other markers."
The antibody levels may not be as high as expected, but are still at a good enough level to give some protection.
"The issue here is that we are in a surge and children are at risk, especially children under 5," she said.
In children aged 5 and above, the vaccines have already been shown to be safe. Maldonado is more concerned that people don’t seem to be taking the virus seriously in children.
"The thought is well, children don't get sick or don't get very sick, and that's true when you compare children to people over 65," she said. "But children are still getting sick at rates that are higher than for just about any other serious illness."
In the short term, it's important to protect children from having to be hospitalized, as hospitals around the country are filling up. And it's still not clear what the long-term effects of the virus can be on children, said Maldonado.
Children can experience the long-COVID-19 symptoms that adults do, including brain fog, neurological, psychiatric or developmental issues. Children do experience long-COVID-19 at lower rates than adults, but there still isn't enough information out there yet.
"We have to be very clear about the messaging that these vaccines have been shown to be very safe in children and are preventing hospitalization for sure," she said.
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