MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Possible protection from COVID-19 could be on the horizon for younger children after a summer that saw pediatric cases increasing in Memphis and nationwide.
Pfizer says a medical trial shows its coronavirus vaccine is safe for children as young as 5 years old, which could be a big step toward making the vaccine available to that age group. It comes at a time when COVID-19 cases in children have been skyrocketing.
“I think this incredibly important to protect those younger school-age children and to protect the rest of their families,” said Dr. Sandy Arnold, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital and a professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. “We’ve all been living through this Delta variant and all the infections in children, and this has had a tremendous effect on children in this area and around the country.”
Arnold said there are promising results in a trial looking at the effectiveness and safety of the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.